We are told that the original adoption of the Hispaniensis was accomplished by Scipio Africanus, who equipped his legions in Spain with the new swords after encountering them in the hands of Spanish troops in the service of Carthage. Is there any indication of how the changeover was carried out in the non-Spanish legions? Did the legionaries (still non-professionals) turn in their old Greek-style swords to armories in exchange for the new hispanienses? Did they just have to buy new swords? Could a man just take his old sword to a smith and have it reforged in the new design? It seems to me that this would be much simpler and cheaper than having a new sword made from scratch. Only Scipio's legions would have had swords made from the superior Spanish steel. Would this have been significant? Was the new sword ordered by Senate decree? Or was the changeover gradual, over a generation or two?
John
at the time you are speaking the soldier was responsible for his equipment so he BOUGHT it
this is enough to answer most of your questions with NO
I'm aware that soldiers provided their own equipment in the mid-Republic. I am curious as to how a weapon changeover was carried out. Scipio, having captured the Spanish fabricae, probably bought and distributed the swords to his soldiers as their patron. But this would not have been the case in the other legions and in future call-ups.
Successful armies had a share of the plunder when, for example, a city was taken. They could have afforded new swords.
Wouldn't the simplest/cheapest option be to sell your old Italic sword to help pay for a new or used Hispanic sword?
Just a thought.
~Theo
Quote:Could a man just take his old sword to a smith and have it reforged in the new design? It seems to me that this would be much simpler and cheaper than having a new sword made from scratch. Only Scipio's legions would have had swords made from the superior Spanish steel. Would this have been significant?
Good questions. I always got the impression the quality of the steel from the Spanish-made swords made half the difference aside from the design which made the other half. If so, then simply reforging an Italic sword into a Hispanic version wouldn't make it a true changeover, more like an inferior knockoff.
Maybe there never was a real changeover for some/most of the legions.
~Theo