The Viscous Sword of Roman History
If you’re a fan of the HBO Series ‘Rome,’ then you must also have a great liking for the hardware they are using on screen like those magnificent swords. This production uses the Roman Gladius sword having the term gladiator, which means swordsman being derived from Gladius.
The Roman Gladius could be seen in the HBO series Rome, which premiered in 2005. The setting was in the 1st century BC when the Republic became an Empire. The two main characters were Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo who were Roman soldiers in the midst of historical events carrying Roman shields and the Roman Gladius as their main weapons. The first season which was released in 2005 began with the conquest of Julius Caesar for Gaul and it ended with his assassination. It featured his dictatorship and there was so much tumult where we can see the Gladius sword being used by the soldiers. It also featured the early years of Octavian, who is destined to be the first emperor of Rome. The second season opened in 2007 where it started with the rise of Emperor Augustus. It featured the disputes between Octavian and Mark Anthony until the victory of Octavian in 31 BC.
In 27 BC, Augustus created the Praetorian Guards who used the Praetorian Roman Gladius. It appeared after Mainz was founded as the permanent camp of the Romans. This sword has a slight waist and a longer more prominent point. It has a sharp, hand-hammer forged 19 ¾ inch leaf blade and handles made of brass rings and ebony hardwood. Praetorian Guards carried these weapons all the time.
A brief and rich history of the sword says that it was first used by the Spaniards. The Romans were impressed by the power and quality of the sword that they adopted it as part of their weaponry. The main features of the sword include a v-shaped tip great for stabbing, double blade edges good for slashing, and carved bone grip for a tight hold. The bone grip may vary in its design as the Romans fashioned the swords’ handles according to the ranks of the owners.
The swords main feature is that it is short providing the Romans easier time in concealing it and defending themselves with their shields. It is only about 20-24 inches long and 2 inches wide and weighs just over 2lbs. In formations, they can easily defend themselves behind their shields using the sword as the main feature of a Roman army includes building a solid wall of defense using their shields to advance. Roman soldiers were trained to wear their Gladius in their right side and draw it using their right hand to prevent them from slicing up the person adjacent to them. Aside from the reforms that it brought in the way of fighting of the Romans, the sword itself also evolved. When the Romans began to use the sword, they modified it by making it shorter and fashioning it with a ‘wasp-waisted’ edge resulting to a convex center to help the sword slice and provide momentum.
The Rome series features a lot of the historical events in Rome but this time with a twist of putting more emphasis on the psychology of the characters like the two Roman soldiers and the expectations of the viewers rather than the actual happenings in history. Some parts or events were not shown or cut-off as part of the show. The second season goes on a rapid pace in history as the following events will not take place in Rome but in Egypt.
The Roman Gladius has been replicated and used in movies and series due to its undeniably great impact on the art of Roman war. And even on screen, the power of the sword cannot be covered as we marvel on how the Romans fought and how their armies conquered lands. We will be seeing more of these swords on the Rome series and other historical films and we will now know the rich history of this weapon.