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The Fulham gladius or Mainz-Fulham gladius was a Roman sword that was used after Aulus Plautius' invasion of Britain in 43 AD. [24] The Romans used it until the end of the 1st century. The Fulham gladius has a triangular tip. The length of the blade is 50–55 cm (20–22 in). The length of the sword is 65–70 cm (26–28 in).
The gladius, one of the primary close-combat weapons utilized by the Roman military. Originating in Spain, the gladius was adopted by the Romans as one of their most commonly used weapons for close combat. Typically 30 cm in length, characterizing a short sword, the term gladius was also applied to longer swords. Though many swords were double ...
Re-enactor with Pompeii-type gladius The Mainz Gladius on display at the British Museum, London. Gladius is the general Latin word for 'sword'. In the Roman Republic, the term gladius Hispaniensis (Spanish sword) referred (and still refers) specifically to the short sword, 60 cm (24 inches) long, used by Roman legionaries from the 3rd century BC.
[11] [12] The gladius replaced the generally shorter stabbing swords of Italic design used until then. [13] The Romans were able to marry, from the time for the Second Punic War, the superb design of the gladius with the finest-quality steel then available in western Europe, Noric steel, from the Alpine kingdom of Noricum (roughly modern Austria).
The earlier gladius sword was gradually replaced by the spatha from the late 2nd to the 3rd century. From the early 3rd century, legionaries and cavalrymen began to wear their swords on the left side, perhaps because the scutum had been abandoned and the spatha had replaced the gladius. [4]
Some sources make him a Pythagorean philosopher, although older ones put him as older than Pythagoras or even deny his existence altogether. They also attribute divine origin to his laws. [2] Most probably, he devised the first written European law code, the Locrian code, in the 7th century BC.
Bronze swords were stronger; by varying the amount of tin in the alloy, a smith could make various parts of the sword harder or tougher to suit the demands of combat service. The Roman gladius was an early example of swords forged from blooms of steel.
A gladiator (Latin: gladiator ' swordsman ', from Latin gladius 'sword') was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by ...