The Variations of Ancient Roman Swords and Their Uses in Battle

In ancient times, Roman Soldiers entered the battlefield with an arsenal of shields, helmets and Roman swords. The Roman Empire overlapped the Iron Age, but Roman Swords are made from steel. To make the iron much stronger, carbon was added during melting; with the added benefit of making it easier to sharpen the sturdier Roman swords to a deadlier point.

Roman Swords are believed to have been inspired by the daggers used by Celtic soldiers of the ancient world such as those used by the Gauls, a barbarian race that inhabited the regions that today make up France, Switzerland, and Northern Italy.

Enemies often attacked each other with daggers, trying to stab each other in the abdomen, a strike which was usually lethal and which always disabled the enemy so that he was unable to mount a counterattack. Swords are simply long daggers, they are made longer so that the person using them can be farther away and you are less likely to get hurt.
While it is true that the Roman Swords were called the Gladius’, it is pertient to realise that the moniker can be misleading. As gladiators were not Roman Soldiers who used Roman Swords, but rather, were often slaves who fought to death in brutal games organized for public entertainment and sport.

There are four main types of Roman Swords, each named for the city that they were found in: the Gladius Hispaniesis, the Mainz, the Mainz-Fulham and the Pompeianus. The place on every sword where the blade connects with the handle is termed its hilt. Roman Sword hilts belonging to the highest ranking officers were, like their helmets, beautifully and intricately detailed, while those of the common soldier were strictly utilitarian.  Roman Swords, when not in use were kept protected in a scabbard to avoid accidental injury and protect the sharpness of the blade.