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Pompeii gladius weight question
#1
Hello to everyone,

I've just entered your forum. I am impressed by the huge load of information one can find here. I will need days and weeks to get into it, but now I am in a rush and I have a specific question.

I wish to buy a gladius as a gift for my father who has enormous background on Roman history. He is also very fond on weapons.

As a compromise between historical accuracy and technical characteristics I chosed Albion Trajan gladius. The other sword that I like very much is the Pompeii gladius from Raven Armoury (http://www.raven-armoury.co.uk/), but it is very expensive for me. (In fact the Albion is also expensive, but I decided that I could pay it.)

Here is my problem - the two gladii are 71-72cm long, but while the RA one weights ~820 grams, the Albion one weights only 665 grams. I am confused. Please tell me, is 665 grams normal? Isn't it rather light? And what is the reason for such a dramatic difference in weight, having equal lengths?

You can also suggest me some other sellers or producers of gladii, keeping in mind that I have searched through the web and these two models I like the most so far.

Thank you very much,
Peter
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#2
There's nothing wrong with either weight. Real swords, historically, usually aren't as heavy as people tend to think they are. A sword of gladius length really should not weigh much more than the heavier of the two you mention. And most would probably tend towards the lighter end of things.

There are probably various reasons why the Albion is lighter. The first thing to consider is taper, both profile and distal. As Albion tends to use quite a bit of distal taper in their blades, that's probably the main reason. Also, there's the thickness of the blade to start out with. One maker's blade may start out thicker than the other. Also, one could consider the materials that make up the hilts, but as they're both probably "natural" (wood and/or bone) that's probably not the reason in this case.
David Wilson


Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus.
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#3
Thank you, David.

I think I got your point.

I've noticed something else. While other Pompeii gladii blade width is 5 cm and more, this one is only 4.3 cm. Maybe you know that at this model there is a slight waist, it is not paralel like most of the examples.

My concern was that the majority of the models I found are of weight 800gr and more. On the other hand, Albion state that this one is made after the Gutmann gladius and this is what attracted me at first place.
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#4
you won't go wrong with the Albion gladius, it's about as good as it gets. Not so sure about the Raven Armouries one though as I have never handled one, but they sure know how to charge
pmel018
Philip melhop
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