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Hello folks,
I am new to this forum - I have a question relating to the time or time frame that the short sword stopped being used by legionnaires. Some seem to think that it may have been as early as the reign to Marcus Aurelius possibly during the Marcomannic wars, however the column of Marcus Aurelius shows legionnaries with short swords I believe. Could it be during the reign of Severus that this occured? I would be most interested to know peoples views here.
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The transition from the Gladius (Roman Short Sword) to the Spatha (Long Sword) has long been debated. It's believed it occurred beginning around 230 AD-ish.
I'm sure someone who knows more about the 3rd century can give a more detailed explanation.
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Hi Archie!
I think the "classic" short swords / gladiuses like Pompeii and Mainz style were not in use at the time of Marcus Aurelius anymore, at least not extensively. The swords that replaced them were not actually "spathas" yet, more like Lauriacum-Hromowka etc. style gladiuses on "steroids" (by this I mean for example the shape of a pompeii style gladius with large dimensions, up to 65 cm long and 6cm wide). Have to check Christian Miks's opus on roman swords once again, though...
The swords in this transition period (let's say 150-200 AD) seemed quite brutish before they developed into more elegant late roman spathas as we have been used to think of them, methinks...
Virilis / Jyrki Halme
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So in the Republican era, the generally used gladius was between 63-69 centimeters in blade length. Later, it seemed to get shorter, the shortest being the Pompeii style. Late empire it lengthened again, with the usage of the spatha. Is this correct? If so, the Romans spent more time with long blades than short blades. I wonder what the reasoning was to shorten the blade length in the first place? What are the theories on it?
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Well the explanation for the introduction of the Spatha was the need for more reach in combat. Sassanids were predominately horsemen, and the Goths could slice your arm off before you stabbed them with a gladius.
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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?
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Medieval swords got over 42 inches in the blade while the longest Roman Spathas almost never hit that length.
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FA,
That was indeed my point. What we are dealing with in Roman times is all rather close in their grouping tied to length.
CAC