Roman Gladius Type III    $73  Expedited Shipping Available! E-mail service@strongblade.com or call 866-7SWORDS On Sale!    Please select the model that you would like to purchase, Then click on the Add to Cart button. Roman Gladius   Model# SBA-ROMANGLADIUSIII  $73      Engrave this item for $15.       In Stock - Ships in 1-3 days   Tempered Pompeii Roman Gladius What's this?   Model# SBA-ROMANGLADIUSIII-T  $119      Engrave this item for $15.       In Stock - Ships in 1-3 days   Sharpened Tempered Pompeii Roman Gladius   Model# SBA-ROMANGLADIUSIII-T-S  $129      Engrave this item for $15.       In Stock - Ships in 1-3 days   Scratch and Dent Tempered Pompeii Romand Gladius(Minor Ding on Blade)   Model# SBA-ROMANGLADIUSIII-SD  $55      Engrave this item for $15.       In Stock - Ships in 1-3 days   Scratch and Dent Tempered Pompeii Roman Gladius(Minor Ding On Blade)   Model# SBA-ROMANGLADIUSIII-T-SD  $90      Engrave this item for $15.   (Originally $115) |     In Stock - Ships in 1-3 days   Scratch and Dent Sharpened Tempered Pompeii Roman Gladius(Minor Scratch On Blade)   Model# SBA-ROMANGLADIUSIII-T-S-SD  $95       Out of Stock   Additional Care and Cleaning Kit (All SBA swords come with one standard)   Model# SBA-CAREANDCLEANINGKIT   $3.5       In Stock - Ships in 1-3 days   The Roman Gladius has a long and prosperous history. Originally a Spanish weapon, the Romans saw the effectiveness of the sword and quickly adopted it for their own troops. The gladius was used primarily for stabbing, so it features a fearsome v-shaped tip, great for slipping through the spaces in ribs, or through the cartilage itself if aim was bad or mood particularly grim. The versatile sword could also be used to slash; both edges were sharpened and deadly. The weapon was ideal for the Romans, who used it in formation, with all soldiers drawing their swords from their right side with their right hand (this bit of conformity kept legionnaires from accidentally dissecting their immediate neighbors). The small swords were the perfect complement to the huge scutum shields (easy killer, I said Scutum) that the soldiers used in their formations, giving the troops speed and the ability to withdraw the weapon quickly and defend themselves solely with the shield. Gladiators naturally adopted a (shorter) version of the gladius as one of their primary weapons and, in a burst of wild creativity, were named after their swords. Want some more nutsy creativity? Well, then consider this: Gladius in Latin means .... sword. Are we getting too abstract for you? The Pompeii Gladius was one of the latest versions of the sword. One similar to this one was found in the ruins of the once mighty Roman colony. You'll recall that Pompeii had some volcano problems in 79 B.C. and ended up bundled nicely in the ancient version of packing peanuts. Bad for them, good for archeologists. Watch the new "Rome" HBO series closely and you'll see swords with blades similar to this one. But know that the one we sell is ten times the sword that any of those early Romans carried. Well, at least three times anyway.

The Japanese katana was often worn paired with another smaller sword or dagger. The shorter sword, called a wazashi (also known alternately as Wakizashi and, occasionally, Fred) measured twelve to twenty-four inches in length. The dagger, a tanto measured six to twelve inches in length. Tonto, from the Lone Ranger, has nothing to do with Asian weapons, but for the record, he was 67 inches long. Strongblade sells lots of katanas. Have a look at our samurai swords.

Keywords: Rome, Roman, Gladius, gladiator, Pompeii, charioteer, HBO