The History of the Roman Sword

The Gladius Hispaniensis (Gladius) was known as one of the most important of the many swords in the history of the sword. It is also one of the most recognized swords among sword collectors. The new materials in this sword outperformed the Roman iron swords that came before the Gladius. This sword gave the Roman soldiers higher speeds of swinging and greater reaching capacities to successfully kill any target.

There were many variations of the Roman Sword (Gladius) and they were used over many years by the Roman military. The Roman Sword, along with the highly advanced skills of the Roman warriors, worked together to create a triumphant military reign. These swords were adopted and modified into many different versions. This was to create a sword without the shortcomings of the past swords, so that the Roman military would have the most up to date sword at their use, for the type of battle they were fighting. Some of the improvements to the Roman Sword were based on other cultures' technology. This meant that the Romans had a different sword for every war strategy.

The Roman Short Sword

One of the swords that also played an important part in helping the Romans conquer the world was the Roman short sword, as it gave the Roman soldier an advantage in short range fighting. This was the appropriate sword to fight against enemies with longer, more cumbersome swords. This short sword was used against the Roman's enemies in the battle as they turned to retreat, when the Roman short sword could then deliver a fatal quick forward thrust. The Roman double-edged sword was distinguished for its powerfulness.

There are many serious Roman Sword collectors, reenactors, live action role players of the Roman lifestyle and war campaigns, and renaissance faire aficionados. The many groups of Roman campaign reenactments strive to recreate the particular legion they are portraying. The realism they impart extends to the equipment and also to the behavior displayed between each other during public demonstrations. They create Roman military drills and stage mock battles. In an effort to recreate the Roman civilian life including happier times than the wars, they include women and children.

Reenactment Equipment

Some groups of reenactors create Roman gladiators using exact replicas of all of the different types of swords and other equipment. These groups focus on portraying the late Roman legions in mock combat as accurately as possible. Roman reenactment swords and daggers need to be as historically accurate as possible to meet the requirements of the enthusiastic reenactors. These reenactors use high quality battle ready swords, chainmail, helms, shields, medieval jewelry, and Roman gear and clothing, even down to the cooking of foods eaten during the period being enacted.

Roman & Greek Swords