Where did the ancient Gladius sword of ancient Rome come from?

The ancient Roman army was not only famous all over the world thanks to the discipline, thanks to the strength of each soldier but also thanks to the formidable military weapons. One of them is the Gladius sword.

The ancient Roman army was not only famous all over the world thanks to the discipline, thanks to the strength of each soldier but also thanks to the formidable military weapons. One of them is Gladius - the legendary Roman weapon.

First of all, how did Gladius come from?

Gladius - the legendary Roman weapon.

At some point in the 3rd century BC, Rome suddenly found itself having a dispute with . well, almost all other countries. One of the lands they occupied was the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal today). While Roman soldiers were busy making fun of their newly acquired lands, they also paid attention to the Spanish sword.

That sword is Gladius Hispaniensis. This sword is very beautiful, elegant design, has 2 blades along with a sharp nose. In general, it is quite similar to the Greek Xiphos sword (although xiphos is only the second option after the famous spears). However, the Romans did not think so. They saw the great potential of these swords, and so .

Sword xiphos

"Yes, this is fine. We'll steal it too."

They brought these swords in, carried out a little more improvement and created a sword with a "slim waist" - the body of the sword swelled up a little in the middle. The sword can be slaughtered like a butcher, nearly reaching the level of the notorious falcata sword from Spain, but while the falcata has only one tongue, the new Roman sword has two, and One more point.

The new Roman sword has two, and one more spearhead.

Flexibility became the key. This Roman sword could be used both for stabbing and for cutting.

And with a length of about 60cm, users can wear the Gladius bar at the hip with the same hand and still draw quickly. This is a very important thing for Roman soldiers, who do not want to slash at their teammates when drawing swords across the people because of the excellent combination of quality and usability, the rods. Gladius has scored the most points in the killing competition than any other weapon in ancient times.

This Roman sword could be used both for stabbing and for cutting.

Since about 200 BC, the Gladius has become the standard weapon of Roman infantry, associated with the conquests of the ancient Roman empire. The saying "Gladius for the vici!" (Gladius for conquerors!) Was born from there. Around 168 BC, the Macedonians had to taste Gladius' dismemberment at the Battle of Pydna.

Around 200 BC, the Gladius became the standard weapon of Roman infantry.

The actual Gladius sword looks different because the Romans used many of its variants. Along with the development of the Roman Empire, in different regions, the Gladius sword was also modernized in a different way: the Gladius sword in Pompeii was shorter, and the Gladius swords used in England were thinner.

Gladius in different areas.

Later, these swords even became the foundation for creating Spatha, the famous sword of the Roman cavalry.

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