09-19-2013, 10:04 PM
Then who were the Romans fighting that necessitated a shorter sword? Romans were fighting Macedonian phalangites, Gauls, Germans, horsemen, catraphacts, etc., with longish gladii in the Republic era to the Principate. Could the change to a shorter Mainz and later Pompeii style have been a fad? Or could it have been based off of fighting other Romans?