ROMAN
SWORDS
From the beginning of the times, the man in his
necessity of defense and its eagerness of conquests, has been developing a
type of agreed armament with the historical moment that lived. Dividing of
first stones and sticks of wood or bone there has been an important
evolutionary process as far as the offensive weapon talks about conductor,
through the centuries, of the search of new resistant and more and more
lasting materials that allowed the manufacture of better arms, and of a
morphologic development that adapted these arms to the necessities of every
historical period.

Roman swords caracterized
for its short lenght.
The discovery of metals and its form to work them,
supposed a great advance in the armaments industry, being able to make new
instruments of attack and defense in a material easier to work and more
lasting. This new stage would arise with the obtaining from copper from
the mineral, having made primitive utensils, but due to their softness in
pure state, hardening forms looked for. The development of the
metallurgical furnace, starting off possibly of a furnace of ceramics or
food baking, would initiate the production in mass of the primitive
armament, to the power to fuse existing minerals in the Age of the Bronze:
lead, receives, tin and of course gold and silver. Thus, with the
obtaining of new alloys or metals in a pure state semi, new forms could be
obtained that nor the most expert man who carves would
have obtained in stone or bone, without forgetting that a metal weapon, as
would be the sword, once broken was the more easy to restitute becoming to
fuse, impossible thing with the stone.
This possibility of new forms from the smelting of the metal, took to the
primitive gunsmiths to the present time to develop a portable model of
armament that has not let evolve in form, size and technique of use. We of
course talked about the sword, explaining maximum of the armaments panoply
of the soldier and accompanying faithful through the centuries in all luck
of fights.

Diferent models of roman
swords.
It was in the Second Punic War when the Romans had to
do them to it with this formidable sword who carried the Spanish infants
of Anibal. This Spanish sword was made in iron of highest quality, the
leaf had double average edge and 50 cm. in length by 7 cm. wide. The
Spanish sword had a great end that turned it an exceptional marksman been
by an infant covered by a great shield, since the only thing that it had
to make era stop the edge of the long sword of the adversary with the
shield and cross it through. The Spanish sword was used of end, for "puncture"
to the adversary, with which the arm that only handled it had to move
towards ahead and not upwards and the infant who handled it exposed unless
with a cut sword. Handled by the expert Spanish infants in their wars
against Rome, these formidable swords caused such terror in the Roman
legionaries who the Senate decided to adopt it like weapon standard in the
Roman equipment replacing the Greek sword of hoplite. Of the Spanish sword
one has said that no other weapon has killed to more men throughout
History until the arrival of the firearms. And it is certain. The dagger
is also Spanish, the leaf measured about 24 cm. in length by 6 cm. wide.

Cinqueada sword was used
by the romans.
The Roman sword, famous "Gladius
Hispaniensis", it is inspired as its name indicates in the Hispanic
short sword. At diverse historical moments they were appearing different
models from swords Roman that they have been catalogued by the name of the
place where were the rest.

Roman gladius is the most
famous sword fo the romans swords.
The development of the Roman sword like basic
equipment of the soldier, did not happen unnoticed for the powerful Roman
machine military, which armed mainly to its legions with two types of
sword. The Roman army composed basically by infantry, depended in certain
way of its allied troops to form an effective cavalry, organizing this one
last one from native troops who dressed and they were armed of own form.
During the war of the Galia, To stop raised a strong body of cavalry that
used a type of long Roman sword that would give rise later to the
denominated Spatha. On the origin of this one, several theories exist,
being accepted, than it arises from the evolution of the Celtics swords of
the last period of Tene III. On the contrary the infantry, equipped with a
Roman sword shorter Gladio call, that behaved in brigand on the right
flank. Originally these Roman swords were of blunt end, being developed
later a wide sword of acute triangular end based on the Hispanic sword,
arises then the call Gladio Hispaniensis.

Roman gladius wich a
different finished.
The leaves of the Roman swords were of two edges with
a rhomboid or biconvex section, without flutes nor adornments. Some of these
Roman swords were compound on the one hand central of low carbon steel with
rich carbon steel edges, others had low a carbon steel soul surrounded by
rich a carbon steel outside and another one was compound more totally of low
carbon steel. The piston rod was an extension of the leaf of the sword, that
projected through the grip. The end was riveted on a washer or a decorative
nail.

Roman sword and cinqueada
sword made artesan in Spain.
The Roman swords took in the right side,
hanging high of a leather shoulder belt of 1.25 to 2.5 cm. wide. The
shoulder belt clasps that can be seen in some modern reconstructions are in
fact adornments for harnesses of horses. The case had four ring to hang, in
the back part the shoulder belt was divided in two and it stuck close to
both ring, whereas in the single advantage the upper barrel band is used, as
much sewing as by means of a clasp. The shoulder belt could be dyeing. One
more a older form to carry the Roman sword, commonest perhaps in those of
type "MAINZ", it is to hang it of the belt, although we do not
know with exactitude like became. It would imply the use of short leather
strap together with the ring, or forming a bow or intercrossing. In the
beginning, gladius hispaniensis had single two ring in the back part of the
case. Have been rest with small clasps together with the ring, which
suggests the use of strap that united it to the belt. Probably the use of
four ring prevailed at the end of century I before Christ
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