03-06-2006, 06:11 PM
You're welcome, Trey!
Mike, I agree that we might be getting a little hair-splitty about the differences between the Mainz and Fulham. But I do think the hispaniensis is not the same. All the surviving hispaniensis blades are early, and they're all over 24" long. (There is a scabbard from Kalkriese which might be from a hispaniensis blade, but I don't know the exact dimensions so it might not.) All the Mainz and Fulham swords that I know of are from AD or maybe late BC, and as far as I know they're all 22" or less in length. Clearly there is some gray area and some overlap, but it really seems to me to be a development over time, not just regional or personal variation.
The comparative advantages/disadvantages of the different styles would depend a lot on the individual blades. Generally, the longer hispaniensis is better at cutting, while the shorter blades would be better for thrusting, of course, but if you try to carry that into some analysis of tactics or whatever, that may be stretching the point. I also don't think that it was a matter of space in formation, since the evidence we have indicates that each legionary was supposed to have 3 feet of space, or more. Plenty of room. I'm not sure we have enough information about the exact battle conditions back then to draw any more solid conclusions!
It does seem pretty safe to say that like every other piece of gear, there was no sense of perfect uniformity in the ranks. A century in 30 BC would have a mix of hispaniensis and probably Mainz types, while in 30 AD you'd see Mainze, Fullham, and Pompeii styles. Fashions and styles were very strong, but there was variation within those styles.
Valete,
Matthew
Mike, I agree that we might be getting a little hair-splitty about the differences between the Mainz and Fulham. But I do think the hispaniensis is not the same. All the surviving hispaniensis blades are early, and they're all over 24" long. (There is a scabbard from Kalkriese which might be from a hispaniensis blade, but I don't know the exact dimensions so it might not.) All the Mainz and Fulham swords that I know of are from AD or maybe late BC, and as far as I know they're all 22" or less in length. Clearly there is some gray area and some overlap, but it really seems to me to be a development over time, not just regional or personal variation.
The comparative advantages/disadvantages of the different styles would depend a lot on the individual blades. Generally, the longer hispaniensis is better at cutting, while the shorter blades would be better for thrusting, of course, but if you try to carry that into some analysis of tactics or whatever, that may be stretching the point. I also don't think that it was a matter of space in formation, since the evidence we have indicates that each legionary was supposed to have 3 feet of space, or more. Plenty of room. I'm not sure we have enough information about the exact battle conditions back then to draw any more solid conclusions!
It does seem pretty safe to say that like every other piece of gear, there was no sense of perfect uniformity in the ranks. A century in 30 BC would have a mix of hispaniensis and probably Mainz types, while in 30 AD you'd see Mainze, Fullham, and Pompeii styles. Fashions and styles were very strong, but there was variation within those styles.
Valete,
Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
