New member here! Couple questions regarding the Gladius
Apr 7, 2020 4:56:15 GMT
Post by rhema1313 on Apr 7, 2020 4:56:15 GMT
This is from one of my reply posts on a different thread... (With some added information and pics)
As a craftsman who specializes in Roman Swords... the Gladius Hispaniensis sword was originally adapted from a Spanish Sword. The Romans were know to "Steal" other people Patients. >LOL< They would take what they saw "Working" and make it their own.
I make a number of types of Hispaniensis Sword Blades ranging in lengths and the way they are ground. Both Hollow Ground and Lenticular. The Original "Mainz" Gladius is a shorter and wider blade. I also make a number of them. "Leaf" blades and also "Waisted blades with a straighter edge tip to point. Later variations of the Mainz Gladius is the Fulham. The Fulham is narrower than the Mainz. A Mainz is about 3"-3 3/16" wide at the hilt. The Fulham averages around 2 1/4" wide. Following the Fulham, was the Parallel edged Pompeii Gladius. This blade averaged 2" wide and was about 19 1/2" at the longest.
Why where they made this way?
I believe they were made to be "KILLERS" not Wounders... Think for a moment the "Leaf" shape of the blade starts at the tip and expands backwards to roughly 2" on the Hispaniensis and nearly 2 3/4" on the Mainz. Continuing further up the blade, it "Narrows" or "Narrows" and then widens again at the guard of the hilt. Like the "Waist" of a woman's figure... Imagine for a moment this sword being thrust "Straight in" and pulled "Straight out" of your opponent. This "Waist" or "S" curve on both sides of this double edge sword in a thrusting motion... opens up the wound as it begins to cut. The widening of the blade opens up the wound wider and as it passes through the flesh, the flesh and the organ tissue cling to the blade... closing around the blade as the waist continues to penetrate the blade is beginning to cut the flesh, organs and tissues into ribbons, not just a one "Slot" cut. When the blade is retracted and withdrawn... (Again imagine strait in and straight out) it creates a reverse cutting motion, again, shredding into ribbons. Wounds like this don't ever heal!!! ... and cannot be sewn. You have a 2 1/2" Hole of shredded ribbons flesh with the HIspaniensis, and a 3" - 3 1/4" hole with the Mainz enough to make a convenient Styrofoam Coffee Cup Holder.
Now... a Trained Legionary was taught to angle cut... in and out and if possible twist the blade 90 degrees on the with drawl. This now leaves a hole that is shaped somewhat like the "PLUS" sign "+" and has left a hole anywhere on average from 3"- 14" in bot directions depending on where the hit took place. But leave an exit wound that looks more like this "*". A total Disembowelment... Catch the opponent at the leg joint of the knees and it is possible to sever the leg below the knee.
Many will argue that the Gladius Blades were only made for thrusting. In reality it is indeed a thrusting sword. However, Livy gives the following graphic account of the effectiveness of the gladius Hispaniensis in battle c. 200 BCE:
[Macedonian soldiers] being accustomed to fight with the Greeks and Illyrians, had seen the wounds which were made by spears and arrows and, on rare occasions, by lance; but now they saw bodies mutilated by the Spanish sword (gladius Hispaniensis), arms lopped off at the shoulder, or heads separated from bodies with the neck cut right through, or entrails lying open, and other repulsive wounds, and there was general panic as they began to see what sort of weapon and what sort of men they had to fight.
Those were not "Thrusting" moves with the sword but slashing. The Waist of the sword would also "Pull" limbs and torsos into it, in a hooking motion as the blade would pull backwards nearing the point.
Cambel wrote: "The Republican weapon looks as suited to cutting as to thrusting - and, returning to the texts, Polybius makes clear it was actually used in both modes, even if thrusting was tactically preferred against foes like the Gauls to foil the long reach of their blades. The case of gladius Hispaniensis exemplifies a general point; our most cherished received ideas about the classical past are open to challenge from new research, not least in archaeology." (Campbell, 123)
Josephus and other historians of the day wrote about not only the effectiveness of the sword in battle, but that Rome's enemies never experienced such a weapon on the battlefield before and how a legionary could stab his opponent three or more times with lightening speed causing wounds that would never heal, if indeed they could ever drag themselves off the battlefield. The Ankle, the Achilles tendon, The Ham String, the main arteries in the calf, and the inner thigh, the groin, the abdomen, up and under the ribcage, the heart, the throat and the jugular in a thrusting motion and how this sword could cut a man in two tom the neck to the waist leaving the head and one full arm totally severed when used to slash.
This is a very wicked sword that Really made the Roman Empire the conquering force that it was for hundreds of years between the Hispaniensis around 200bc-to the Fulham Style the latter part of the first century ad until they converted to the Parallel straight sided double edged sword of the Pompeii style which was soon after changed over to the Spathe in the 2nd-3rd Century ad.
So why this design that spanned about 500 years with many variations? Because it was an AK-47 and the AR-15 of it's time! It was a killer that struck fear into the enemy! It was the sword that made Rome what it was!
Here are a few recent Gladii I create for clients
I hope this helps...
--Patrick
As a craftsman who specializes in Roman Swords... the Gladius Hispaniensis sword was originally adapted from a Spanish Sword. The Romans were know to "Steal" other people Patients. >LOL< They would take what they saw "Working" and make it their own.
I make a number of types of Hispaniensis Sword Blades ranging in lengths and the way they are ground. Both Hollow Ground and Lenticular. The Original "Mainz" Gladius is a shorter and wider blade. I also make a number of them. "Leaf" blades and also "Waisted blades with a straighter edge tip to point. Later variations of the Mainz Gladius is the Fulham. The Fulham is narrower than the Mainz. A Mainz is about 3"-3 3/16" wide at the hilt. The Fulham averages around 2 1/4" wide. Following the Fulham, was the Parallel edged Pompeii Gladius. This blade averaged 2" wide and was about 19 1/2" at the longest.
Why where they made this way?
I believe they were made to be "KILLERS" not Wounders... Think for a moment the "Leaf" shape of the blade starts at the tip and expands backwards to roughly 2" on the Hispaniensis and nearly 2 3/4" on the Mainz. Continuing further up the blade, it "Narrows" or "Narrows" and then widens again at the guard of the hilt. Like the "Waist" of a woman's figure... Imagine for a moment this sword being thrust "Straight in" and pulled "Straight out" of your opponent. This "Waist" or "S" curve on both sides of this double edge sword in a thrusting motion... opens up the wound as it begins to cut. The widening of the blade opens up the wound wider and as it passes through the flesh, the flesh and the organ tissue cling to the blade... closing around the blade as the waist continues to penetrate the blade is beginning to cut the flesh, organs and tissues into ribbons, not just a one "Slot" cut. When the blade is retracted and withdrawn... (Again imagine strait in and straight out) it creates a reverse cutting motion, again, shredding into ribbons. Wounds like this don't ever heal!!! ... and cannot be sewn. You have a 2 1/2" Hole of shredded ribbons flesh with the HIspaniensis, and a 3" - 3 1/4" hole with the Mainz enough to make a convenient Styrofoam Coffee Cup Holder.
Now... a Trained Legionary was taught to angle cut... in and out and if possible twist the blade 90 degrees on the with drawl. This now leaves a hole that is shaped somewhat like the "PLUS" sign "+" and has left a hole anywhere on average from 3"- 14" in bot directions depending on where the hit took place. But leave an exit wound that looks more like this "*". A total Disembowelment... Catch the opponent at the leg joint of the knees and it is possible to sever the leg below the knee.
Many will argue that the Gladius Blades were only made for thrusting. In reality it is indeed a thrusting sword. However, Livy gives the following graphic account of the effectiveness of the gladius Hispaniensis in battle c. 200 BCE:
[Macedonian soldiers] being accustomed to fight with the Greeks and Illyrians, had seen the wounds which were made by spears and arrows and, on rare occasions, by lance; but now they saw bodies mutilated by the Spanish sword (gladius Hispaniensis), arms lopped off at the shoulder, or heads separated from bodies with the neck cut right through, or entrails lying open, and other repulsive wounds, and there was general panic as they began to see what sort of weapon and what sort of men they had to fight.
Those were not "Thrusting" moves with the sword but slashing. The Waist of the sword would also "Pull" limbs and torsos into it, in a hooking motion as the blade would pull backwards nearing the point.
Cambel wrote: "The Republican weapon looks as suited to cutting as to thrusting - and, returning to the texts, Polybius makes clear it was actually used in both modes, even if thrusting was tactically preferred against foes like the Gauls to foil the long reach of their blades. The case of gladius Hispaniensis exemplifies a general point; our most cherished received ideas about the classical past are open to challenge from new research, not least in archaeology." (Campbell, 123)
Josephus and other historians of the day wrote about not only the effectiveness of the sword in battle, but that Rome's enemies never experienced such a weapon on the battlefield before and how a legionary could stab his opponent three or more times with lightening speed causing wounds that would never heal, if indeed they could ever drag themselves off the battlefield. The Ankle, the Achilles tendon, The Ham String, the main arteries in the calf, and the inner thigh, the groin, the abdomen, up and under the ribcage, the heart, the throat and the jugular in a thrusting motion and how this sword could cut a man in two tom the neck to the waist leaving the head and one full arm totally severed when used to slash.
This is a very wicked sword that Really made the Roman Empire the conquering force that it was for hundreds of years between the Hispaniensis around 200bc-to the Fulham Style the latter part of the first century ad until they converted to the Parallel straight sided double edged sword of the Pompeii style which was soon after changed over to the Spathe in the 2nd-3rd Century ad.
So why this design that spanned about 500 years with many variations? Because it was an AK-47 and the AR-15 of it's time! It was a killer that struck fear into the enemy! It was the sword that made Rome what it was!
Here are a few recent Gladii I create for clients
I hope this helps...
--Patrick