04-10-2006, 11:24 AM
I suggest you visit italian museums where you can see etruscan and pre-roman swords relatively longer than the gladius. Also do not forget that the gladius length was not a constant but got shorter well into the period when northern "italians" from the Po-valley and provincials were quite numerous while the "romans" (latins) were less and less.
I too believe in gradual changes (unless something new forces a major change) but then the height-theory (short roman hence short swords) is embarassingly weak as it does not explain why the length of gladii (plural?) did not simply get longer and longer. Were roman legionaries getting shorter then taller again, or maybe they were selected to be short in the first place, or simply selected if expecially masochistic.
Sorry but the short-roman theory doesn't make sense to me as it doesn't explain why the roman used the gladius for centuries!!!
I too believe in gradual changes (unless something new forces a major change) but then the height-theory (short roman hence short swords) is embarassingly weak as it does not explain why the length of gladii (plural?) did not simply get longer and longer. Were roman legionaries getting shorter then taller again, or maybe they were selected to be short in the first place, or simply selected if expecially masochistic.
Sorry but the short-roman theory doesn't make sense to me as it doesn't explain why the roman used the gladius for centuries!!!
Jeffery Wyss
"Si vos es non secui of solutio tunc vos es secui of preciptate."
"Si vos es non secui of solutio tunc vos es secui of preciptate."
