A guide to Roman swords

The Roman Empire’s capital, Rome, used to be the centre of civilisation and for a good reason. This article serves as a guide to Roman swords.

Roman short sword

Overview
The Roman short sword is arguably the most well known of all Roman weaponry and popularly referred to as ‘the sword that conquered the world’.
A short sword is also called a gladius sword and is approximately two feet in length. There are several types of Roman short swords, and one of this is the falcata, which has a hook-shaped handle and a forward-curving, single-edge blade that is powerful enough to cut a helmet into two with one swipe. Another example of a Roman short sword is the hoplite sword, which, like the falcata, is also based on the design of Greek swords, only it comes with a straight blade and a custom-sized handle for better control.

Gladiator swords

The basics
A spatha is one of the most popular types of gladiator swords.
It was, however, originally designed for use in war, particularly by the Roman navy and cavalry, with an extremely straight and single-edge blade that could reach a maximum length of 40 inches.
By the fourth century, however, the design of spathas had evolved into a double-edge blade. It also became the most popular weapon of Roman soldiers by that time.

Roman swords versus Roman daggers

Differences There is a slight but critical difference between daggers and swords besides the fact that swords – even the short ones – tend to possess greater length compared to daggers. Another key difference is that while swords are designed for use in ceremonial rituals and war, daggers can be used for a wider variety of purposes like cooking and crafts.

What Roman swords were made of

Final word Experts continue to debate today about certain issues on blacksmithing in the Roman Empire, particularly with the design and production of swords.
Steel was not officially ‘invented’ during those times yet, but historical data suggest that Roman blacksmiths may have already been using steel to forge swords and other weaponry without even knowing it. In those days, Romans used iron to forge their weapons. Research shows that Romans at that time, were using wrought iron with a carbon level of 0.05%. Due to their practice of using charcoal for heating metal and forging weapons, it is possible that their techniques had provided their swords and weapons with a steel casing or coating.