'''Gladius''' is a
Latin word for
sword. Early
ancient Roman swords were similar to those used by the Greeks. From the
3rd century BCE the Romans adopted swords similar to those used by the
Celtiberians and others during the
conquest of Hispania. This kind of sword was known as the '''Gladius Hispaniensis''', or "
Hispanic Sword." It was once thought that they were similar to the later
Mainz types, but the evidence now suggests that this was not the case.
[1] Rather these early blades followed a slightly different pattern, being longer and narrower, and were probably those that
Polybius[2] considered good for both cut and thrust. Later extant Gladii are now known as the Mainz, Fulham and Pompei types. In the late Roman period
Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus[3] refers to swords called ''semispathae'' (or ''semispathia'') and ''
spathae'', for both of which he appears to consider gladius an appropriate term.
A fully-equipped Roman soldier would have been armed with a
shield (
scutum), several
javelins (
pila), a
sword (gladius), probably a
dagger (
pugio) and perhaps a number of
darts (
plumbatae). Conventionally, the javelins would be thrown before engaging the enemy, at which point the gladius would be drawn. The soldier generally led with his shield and thrust with his sword. Contrary to popular belief, all types of gladius appear to have also been suitable for cutting and chopping motions as well as for thrusting.
Etymology
The name is a Latin ''o''-stem noun, its plural being ''gladii''. The diminutive form, ''
gladiolus'', is also the name of a
flowering plant with sword-shaped leaves. Gladius is used in literature as early as the plays of
Plautus (''Casina'', ''Rudens'').
Words derived from the word ''gladius'' include
gladiator ("swordman") and
gladiolus ("little sword," from the
diminutive form of ''gladius'').
Celtic origin
According to Julius Pokorny the term would be of
Celtic origin, from Gaulish ''
★ kladyos'', cognate to Welsh ''cleddyf'' and Breton ''kleze'' (Old Irish ''claideb'' is from the Brythonic, compare ''
claymore''), all meaning "sword", ultimately from a
PIE base ''
★ kelad-'' (extended from a root ''
★ kel-'') cognate to Latin ''clādēs'' "injury, damage, defeat".
[4]
''Gladius'' could also be a term used to describe a dagger,
Pugio.
[5]
Acquisition by the Romans
-Segunda_Edad_del_Hierro.jpg)
A sword of the Cogotas II culture in Spain, which began about 700 BCE. The shape is indistinguishable from the gladius hispanus.
The Hispanic sword was probably not acquired from Hispania and not from the Carthaginians. Livy
[6] relates the story of Titus Manlius Torquatus taking up a Gallic challenge to a single combat by a large-size soldier at a bridge over the
Anio river, where the Gauls and the Romans were encamped on opposite sides of the river. Manlius strapped on a Hispanic sword ('Gladius Hispanus'
[7]). During the combat he thrust twice with it under the shield of the Gaul, dealing fatal blows to the abdomen. He then removed the Gaul's
torc and placed it around his own neck, whence the name, torquatus.
The combat happened in the consulships of C. Sulpicius and C. Licinius in about 361 BCE, much before the
Punic Wars, but during the frontier wars with the Gauls (366-341 BCE). One theory therefore proposes the borrowing of the word gladius from
★ kladi- during this period, relying on the principle that k becomes g in Latin only in loans.
Ennius attests the word. Gladius may have replaced 'ensis', which in the literary periods was used mainly by the poets.
[8]
The debate on the origin of the gladius Hispanus continues. That it descended ultimately from Celtic swords of the
La Tene and
Hallstat periods is unquestioned. Whether it did so directly from Celtiberian troops of the
Punic Wars or through Gallic troops of the Gallic Wars remains the question of the Hispanic sword.
Gladius and gladiator
The '
gladiator' etymologically was a slave (more rarely a free volunteer) who fought to the death using a gladius in a display called a 'ludus', "game", in origin held as part of the funeral celebration in honor of a notable warrior. The time the custom began is lost in the prehistoric
Bronze Age.
Etruscans held funeral ludi from an unknown provenience. They passed the custom on to the Romans. In Roman gladiatorial theory, prisoners of war were to be sacrificed as a duty to the deceased warrior; hence the games were called 'munera', "services." Over the centuries services were rendered through many forms of combat. The sacrificed went by many names.
Even among the Romans combat and weapons were of many forms. That being so, the choice of the word gladius needs to be explained. It must have been appropriate when displays began at Rome. Games were held first by Latin speakers at
Capua, a renamed Etruscan city. Livy explains that in 308 BCE the
Samnites were defeated by the
Campanians, who captured a large cache of new and ornate arms, only acquired by the Samnites in 310 BCE. The Campanians gave these to their gladiators, innovating a new class of gladiator, the Samnites. They fought with the gladius.
[9]
When the Romans instituted the games at Rome in 264 BCE, they displayed 22 pairs of matched gladiators. They were probably called gladiators then, though the only evidence is Livy's word for it. He may have been speaking anachronistically; however, his description of the Gallic combat above matches the use of the gladius. The dates, certainly, are right. In that same year, the Punic Wars began.
Manufacture
By the time of the
Roman Republic, which flourished during the
Iron Age, the classical world was well-acquainted with
steel and the steel-making process. Pure
iron is relatively soft, but pure iron is never found in nature. Natural iron ore contains various impurities in solid solution, which harden the reduced metal by producing irregular-shaped metallic crystals.
The
Chalybes of the
Caucasus region were metallurgists for Iron-Age Europe and they had found that increasing carbon content produced harder steel. In Roman times ore was reduced in a
bloomery furnace, as the
blast furnace had not yet been invented, at least in western society. The temperature did not become high enough to actually melt the metal. The result was pieces of slag, or
blooms, which were forged into the desired shape. Forging continued until the metal cooled (cold forging).
A recent metallurgical study of two
Etrurian swords, one in the form of a Greek
kopis from 7th century BCE
Vetulonia, and one in the form of a gladius Hispanus from 3rd century BCE
Chiusi, gives some insight concerning the manufacture of Roman swords.
[Walter NICODEMI, Carlo MAPELLI, Roberto VENTURINI and Riccardo RIVA: ISIJ Int., 45 (2005), 1358 . The reader should be aware that this article is written in technical metallurgical language.] The Chiusi sword comes from Romanized Etruria; thus, regardless of the names of the forms (which the authors do not identify), the authors believe the process was continuous from the Etruscans to the Romans.
The Vetulonian sword was crafted by the
pattern welding process from five blooms reduced at a temperature of 1163 °C. Five strips of varying carbon content were created. A central core of the sword contained the highest: 0.15–0.25% carbon. On its edges were placed four strips of low-carbon steel, 0.05–0.07%, and the whole thing was welded together by forging on the pattern of hammer blows. A blow increased the temperature sufficiently to produce a friction weld at that spot. Forging continued until the steel was cold, producing some central
annealing. The sword was 58 cm long.
[ ]
The Chiusian sword was created from a single bloom by forging from a temperature of 1237 °C. The carbon content increased from 0.05–0.08% at the back side of the sword to 0.35–0.4% on the blade, from which the authors deduce some form of
carburization may have been used. The sword was 40 cm long and was characterized by a wasp-waist close to the hilt.
Roman swords continued to be forged both as composites and from single pieces. Inclusions of sand and rust weakened the two swords of the study and no doubt limited the strength of swords during the Roman period.
Description
The word gladius acquired a general meaning as any type of sword. This use appears as early as the 1st century CE in the ''Biography of Alexander the Great'' by
Quintus Curtius Rufus.
[10] The republican authors, however, appear to mean a specific type of sword, which is now known from archaeology to have had variants.
Gladii were two-edged for cutting and had a tapered point for stabbing during thrusting. A solid grip was provided by a knobbed hilt added on, possibly with ridges for the fingers. Blade strength was achieved by welding together strips, in which case the sword had a channel down the center, or by fashioning a single piece of high-carbon steel, rhomboidal in cross-section. The owner's name was often engraved or punched on the blade.
Stabbing was a very efficient technique as stabbing wounds, especially in the abdominal area, were almost always deadly (see the quotation from
Vegetius under
pugio). However, the gladius in some circumstances was used for cutting or slashing, as is indicated by
Livy's account of the
Macedonian Wars, wherein the Macedonian soldiers were horrified to see dismembered bodies.
[11]
The gladius was sheathed in a scabbard mounted on a belt or shoulder strap, some say on the right, some say on the left (refer to the articles cited in the notes). Some say the soldier reached across his body to draw it, and others affirm that the position of the shield made this method of drawing impossible. A
centurion wore it on the opposite side as a mark of distinction.
[12]
Towards the end of the second century A.D. the
spatha took the place of the gladius in the Roman legions.
Types
Several different designs were used; among collectors and
historical reenactors, the three primary kinds are known as the ''Mainz gladius'', the ''Fulham gladius'', and the ''Pompeii gladius'' (these names refer to where or how the canonical example was found). More recent archaeological finds have uncovered an earlier version, the ''Gladius Hispaniensis'' ("Hispanic sword").
The differences between these varieties are subtle. The original Hispanic sword, or had a slight "wasp-waist" or "leaf-blade" curvature.
[13] It was used in the republic. The Mainz variety came into use on the frontier in the early empire. It kept the curvature, but shortened and widened the blade and made the point triangular. At home the less battle-effective Pompei version came into use. It eliminated the curvature, lengthened the blade, and diminished the point. The Fulham was a compromise, with straight edges and a long point.
[14]
Descriptions of the main types follow:
★ 'Gladius Hispaniensis': Used from no later than 200 B.C. until 20 B.C. Blade length 64 cm - 69 cm. Sword length 74 cm - 81 cm. Sword width 5 cm. Short blade, broad towards the handle. (
Example 1,
Example 2,
Example 3)
★ 'Mainz':
Mainz was founded as the Roman permanent camp of Moguntiacum probably in 13 BC. This large camp provided a population base for the growing city around it. Sword manufacture probably began in the camp and was continued in the city; for example, Gaius Gentilius Victor, a veteran of Legio XXII, used his discharge bonus on retirement to set up a business as a 'negotiator gladiarius', a manufacturer and dealer of arms.
[15] Swords made at Mainz were sold extensively to the north. They are characterized by a slight waist running the length of the blade and a long point. Blade width 7-8 cm. Blade length 66 cm - 70 cm. Sword mass: 1.2 kg - 1.6 kg. (
Example 1,
Example 2,
Video demo)
★ 'Fulham' or 'Mainz-Fulham': The sword that gave the name to the type was dredged from the Thames near Fulham and must therefore date to a time after the Roman occupation of Britain began. That would have been after the invasion of
Aulus Plautius in 43 CE. It was used until the end of the same century. It is considered the conjunction point between ''Mainz'' and ''Pompei''. Some consider it an evolution or the same as the ''Mainz'' type. Blade length 70 cm blade width: 6 cm at the base, 4 cm in the middle, 7 cm in the end. (
Example 1,
Example 2)
★ 'Pompei' (or 'Pompeianus' or 'Pompeii'): Named by moderns after the Roman town of
Pompeii, which was destroyed by volcanic eruption, 79 AD, with great loss of life, despite efforts of the Roman navy to get them out. Four instances of the sword type were found there, with others turning up elsewhere. The sword has parallel cutting edges and a triangular tip. Original blade length of 60 cm, blade length from circa 75 A.D. of 68 cm - 71 cm. From circa 100 A.D. of 83 cm (semi-spatha). From now on the Roman Gladius will be of middle-length. (
Example 1,
Example 2)
Scabbard
Roman scabbards were made of wood covered with leather and were decorated with a frame made of brass or iron.
The Latin word for the scabbard is ''vagina'' and some weapons experts and enthusiasts refer to the scabbard of a gladius by this Latin word. It acquired its
modern meaning by means of a simple
metaphor. The Romans generally did not use this word in its anatomical sense, but it does show up as a joke in
Plautus, ''
Pseudolus'' 4.7.85: "Did the soldier's 'sword' fit well into your 'sheath'?"
Hilt
The hilt of a Roman sword was the 'capulus'. It was often ornate, especially the sword-hilts of officers and dignitaries.
Symbolism
The gladius is frequently depicted in
coats of arms, especially of military corps.
Notes
1. This point of view is expressed in LEGIO XX ONLINE HANDBOOK under GLADIUS. The article in turn cites the ''Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies''.
2. Polybius, ''Histories'', 3.144.3-4: τῆς μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἔλαττον τὸ κέντημα τῆς καταφορᾶς ἴσχυε πρὸς τὸ βλάπτειν, ἡ δὲ Γαλατικὴ μάχαιρα μίαν εἶχε χρείαν τὴν ἐκ καταφορᾶς, καὶ ταύτην ἐξ ἀποστάσεως. "[the Roman sword]'s thrust was no less damaging than its chop, but the Gallic sabre had just one use: chopping, and that from a distance."
3. Vegetius ''De Re Militari'' 2.15: ''gladios maiores, quos spathas uocant, et alios minores, quos semispathia nominant...'' "Larger swords, which they call ''spathae'', and other, smaller ones, which they name ''semispathia''"
4. One finds this point of view under gladiator in the ''Online Etymological Dictionary'' and it is espoused by ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary'' under gladiator, both of which seem to depend on Pokorny's comprehensive derivation under kel-3, pages 545-547. For some linguistic problems with the derivation see Beekes under κλάδος, and in fact some notable dictionaries are silent on the further connection of the Celtic to an Indo-European root, such as the ''American Heritage Dictionary''.
5. See Smith's article on gladius in ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', page 577, which is online at ancientlibrary.com.
6. 7.10, link
7. Livy's term (link). Most authors use Hispaniensis but a few use Hispanus. Both are adjectives of the same meaning, that is, they refer to Hispania, or the Iberian Peninsula.
8. This theory is stated in Note 80, Page 191, of faculty dissertation '' RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS IN OR FROM THE NETHERLANDS'' by Tineke Looijenga, University of Groningen.
9. Michael Grant, ''Gladiators'', Barnes & Noble, 1967, ISBN 1-56619-958-1.
10. "Copidas vocabant gladios leviter curvatos, falcibus similes: "They called their lightly curved, sickle-like swords (gladios) 'copides'."
11. ''Histories'', Book 31, Chapter 34.
12. See under gladius in Seyffert, ''Dictionary of Classical Antiquities''.
13. Compare, for example, the Spanish Falcata, which is not a gladius and is not an ancestor of the gladius, but has nevertheless the wasp-waist.
14. A comparison of the outlines can be found at the museo de arma blanca site. The text is in Spanish.
15. KOENRAAD S. VERBOVEN, GOOD FOR BUSINESS. THE ROMAN ARMY AND THE EMERGENCE OF A BUSINESS CLASS IN THE NORTHWESTERN PROVINCES (1ST CENTURY BCE - 3RD C. CE), search under sword.
References
★
Significant Contributions in the Study of European Arms and Armor, bibliography by the Arms and Armor Society of America.
★
Armamentarium: subject bibliographies: swords
★ John William Humphrey, John Peter Oleson, Andrew Neil Sherwood,
Greek and Roman Technology: a sourcebook
External links
The articles in the links below often differ both in theory and in detail. They should not necessarily be understood as fully professional articles but should be appreciated for their presentational value.
Pictures of ancient swords
★
Legion VI's pictures of some real Roman gear
★
Roman Military Equipment at the Roman Numismatic Gallery (romancoins.info)
Reenactments, reconstructions, experimental archaeology
★
Legio IX Hispana: photos of historical reconstructionists drawing and holding gladii.
★
Legio XX Gladius page
★
Legio XXIV Gladiator page
★
The Roman Legionary and His Equipment in The First Century AD: An Assessment of the findings of The Ermine Street Guard.
Articles on the history or manufacture of the sword
★
Iron of the Empire: The History and Development of the Roman Gladius (myArmoury.com article)
★ James Hurst,
THE ROMAN SWORD IN THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD AND AFTER
★ Janet Lang,
Study of the Metallography of Some Roman Swords
★ Niko Silvester,
FROM RAPIER TO LANGSAX: Sword Structure in the British Isles in the Bronze and Iron Ages
★ Richard F. Burton,
THE SWORD AMONGST THE BARBARIANS (EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE).
★
La cuestion del gladius hispaniensis, Spanish language, Celtiberia site.
★
Iron Age, Power Point presentation.
★
Industrial Chemical Processes of Iron and Steel, intute site.
★
Ancient sword cuts a dash (Royal Armouries Museum)
See also
★
Spatha
★
Pugio
★
Roman military personal equipment
-Segunda_Edad_del_Hierro.jpg)
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