06-05-2011, 06:18 AM
Quote: But by when were they standard equipment for the spartans?
I would like to re-post the OPs original question, I have never read anything to suggest there was ever an intentional shift from the Xiphos to a 'short sword' by the Spartan military. If the only evidence for this is a couple of ancedotal quotes from Plutarch, then I would be at least somewhat dubious. I would however like to hear the opinion of others on this and I'm sure the OP would like an answer to his question. :-)
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Mark Hayes
"The men who once dwelled beneath the crags of Mt Helicon, the broad land of Thespiae now boasts of their courage"
Philiades
"So now I meet my doom. Let me at least sell my life dearly and have a not inglorius end, after some feat of arms that shall come to the ears of generations still unborn"
Hektor, the Iliad
Mark Hayes
"The men who once dwelled beneath the crags of Mt Helicon, the broad land of Thespiae now boasts of their courage"
Philiades
"So now I meet my doom. Let me at least sell my life dearly and have a not inglorius end, after some feat of arms that shall come to the ears of generations still unborn"
Hektor, the Iliad
