The Abandonment of the Gladius for the Spatha - Why?

[Goffredo]

If Connolly's theory is right then the gladius should have phased out when the provincials became the great majority in the legions. There is a possible correlation but a weak one at that, essentially useless. A good theory should make stronger claims and make a credible effort to explain non-trivial things. Connolly has to explain why the Po-valley and southern gaul provincials, the illyrians, the pannonian recruits, that were being recruited more and more as time passed, would be recruited at all it it were awkward for them to use the short gladius designed for short people. Or were just the germans tall. Of course not. Connolly also has to explain why one can find relatively long bronze swords in etruscan and pre-roman italic tombs. This Connolly theory is, in my opinion, quite weak and, quite franckly, banal.