Roman Swords

Introduction

The classic Roman sword, the "Gladius" was adopted, according to legend, from the style of sword the Romans encountered being wielded by Iberian Celts in Carthaginian service during the earliest Punic Wars.

As such it appears to have originally been termed a "Gladius Hispaniensis". Prior to that the Romans utilised swords based on Greco-Etruscan influence but these gave way quickly to the gladius.

The Romans were impressed not only with how efficiently the gladius could be used in a thrusting action but also that its girth also enabled tremendous shearing blows.

The 1st C AD still saw widespread use of the classic "Mainz" pattern gladius, a distinctively shaped weapon with a graceful line along the cutting edges of the blade (figure 1). This shape gave added weight at the cutting point of the blade and a wickedly sharp -and often reinforced- tip for the gladius main thrusting role in close order infantry combat.

This classic Roman fighting stance had the soldier adopt a somewhat crouched stance behind his shield (scutum). The shield was held forward with the gladius held low and slightly back, protecting the users hand and assisting in keeping the timing of his forward jabs less advertised to his opponent.

This was a devastatingly effective fighting technique in close combat, and had been perfected over several hundred years of near constant war.

In Scotland the massed Caledonians- typically armed with longer slashing sword or spears and small rectangular bucklers- fared badly at Mons Graupius we are told due to the constricted press of men in which the Caledonians found it difficult to use their longer weapons effectively. Conversely the press of bodies suited the Roman soldiers who were equipped with their large protective shields and short stabbing swords.

On the other hand we are not told by classical authors how the classic Roman fighting stance fared against northern tribesmen when they met in loose milling open order combat, undoubtedly a common occurrence due to the northern tribes preference for guerrilla warfare. We can imagine such combat swilling around small columns of troops caught on the march, supply trains as well as incautiously dispersed foraging parties.

The Roman Historians do not go into detail but Cassius Dio makes it clear that it was in the hurly-burly of such chaotic fighting that Septimus Severus lost so many of his troops while operating against the southern tribes (Maetae) and northern tribes (Caledonians ) of Scotland in the early 3rd C AD, not in formal pitched battle.

Around the middle of the 1st C AD it would appear, based on an example recovered from the ashes of Pompeii that a version of the gladius which was simpler to manufacture was slowly taking over from the earlier Mainz pattern gladius`s more shapely blade.

With parallel sides to the cutting blade and a shorter point this workmanlike weapon has less pleasing lines than the earlier pattern, but remained just as brutally effective for the Roman fighting technique (figure 2).

The hilts of gladius did not have a guard in the manner we would expect from later swords. In gladius fighting the shield was expected to deflect the opponents blow, not the blade of the gladius. The guards were no more than a curved block of wood or other organic material, matched by a similar pommel which helped seat the grip in the fist.

The weapons grip was often shaped with consecutive grooves and ridges to equate with the fingers, again assisting in providing a sure grip.

The soldiers gladius tended to have simple wooden hilt members, though ivory and bone were readily employed, often for the grooved handgrip.

As ever Romans loved ostentatious displays of decoration, when the owner could afford it the hilt of the weapon was often sheathed in silver which was decorated in chased open work with the timber and leather lined scabbard often given a matching treatment. We should not however imagine every Roman soldier so richly decorated.

Generally prior to the time of Roman involvement in Scotland the cavalry were recruited form allied nations and tribes noted for their ability as horsemen. The Gauls were much employed and these more often that not brought with them and used their native weapons.

By the 1st C AD the Roman cavalry arm had been formalised and the sword termed a "Spatha" was the preferred weapon. The spatha was different from the gladius, being longer and thinner and allowed a better reach and slashing action from the cavalryman's elevated height on horseback.

Several spatha have been found in Scotland, the example illustrated, found in Northumberland, from a private collection closely matches examples found at Newstead in southern Scotland (figure 3).

This example has an interesting widened block in the tang, a device which will have better seated the grip - often of organic material which was liable to wear over time with use and work around the thin iron tang of the sword. It also provided a point at which the manufacturers mark could be stamped -the example illustrated having the standard "M" for manufacturie on one side and what appears to be "TR" on the other which could represent the Imperial workshops in Trier (figure 4).

Examples have been unearthed of short swords most likely used in the 2nd C AD which have with an open iron ring pommel in lieu of the timber globular piece. These are termed ring pommel swords.

By the 3rd C AD the Roman infantry fighting style seems to have undergone a review. The longer flaring neck guards on infantry helmets made it more difficult to achieve the earlier crouched stance, and while the heavy pilum javelin and the curved rectangular scutums are still recorded the older fighting style seems to have slowly given way to the more upright stance open order style of fighting traditionally associated with the auxiliaries.

Here a longer blade was useful and gladius blades notably increase in length, undoubtedly to counter the swirling combat with northern tribesmen in Scotland and elsewhere on the other frontiers of the Empire (figure 5). Eventually there appears to have been little or anything to distinguish between swords for the infantry and cavalry and the issue of the spatha appears likely to have been universal.

These later spathas tended to two main forms. These are now known by modern terms; the Straubing/Nydam style retained the earlier spathas long thin proportions while the Lauriacum/Hromowka type had a wider and heavier blade, often constructed using pattern welding technology and it is seen as a possible precursor of the dark ages broadsword (figure 6).

The means of suspending the sword and scabbard changed over time. In the 1st C AD twin pairs of suspension hoops were provided to each upper edge of the scabbard, though in practice it would appear probable that often only two were used. These were hung from the soldiers waist belt and as the sword sat on the right hip it required the seemingly awkward but in practice fairly straightforward "inverted" removal of the sword.

Later suspension was via a much simpler "slide" (figure 7) which was attached to the upper front of the scabbard and was hung from a baldric over the wearers right shoulder. This gives the sword a more recognisable position on the soldiers left hip. Drawing the weapon across the chest however could open the defence of the wearer and is seen as contributory evidence for the change in fighting style of the later Roman soldier.

It appears that most infantrymen carried a dagger, a fine weapon called a Pugio (figure 8). It used to be thought that its use died out after the 1st C AD but it would now appear thats its use continued uninterrupted through to the later empire without any break in use.

Later daggers are sometimes larger though this need not always be the case. Pugio blades tend to be strongly leaf shaped and generally had a strong median ridge. Although made of iron, the iconic style of the weapon deliberately echoes bronze age weapons, though we do not know why. Pugios and their scabbards were often highly decorated items in themselves raising the possibility that they were held in higher esteem than the campaign utility tool function of their modern military equivalent.

 

©2008 Roman Scotland. All Rights Reserved
First Published February 2008