Gladius? Why?

[chiral.grolim]

My wife is an expert in history/anthropology, with particularly emphasis on the Celtic islands.

She related to me that the success of the Roman legions had less to do with their short swords (gladii), more to do with (just like the Spartans) their tremendous discipline, and also their defense equipment + infantry tactics, in particular their armor & full phalanx shields (which many of the peoples conquered did NOT have), and testudo.

A film which strives to depict this realistically (along with certain other aspects of life at the time) is The Eagle. (Note, if you bother to see this film, find the 'alternate' ending which better fits the story-line than the theatrical release). In particular there is a scene in which a handful of retired Roman legionnaires defeated a troop of Celts in their prime - I laughed at the unlikelihood of such victory, but my wife proceeded to deliver a lecture on the effectiveness of Roman defensive equipment and their training as unit force vs. individual warriors. *shrug*



That said, an INFI Gladius does indeed exude 'awesomeness' and I will always want one (and can't afford one), regardless of its utility. :thumbup:

 

[1whobuys]

After reading this thread I had to go and get my Gladius out so I could see "Why"
After handling it for a while I decided I need it because it is so...
Awesome !!!

Feels great in my hand, and is not to long to use up close..come on Zombie Apocalypse Dec. 21st, I'm ready!!!

 

[BePrepared]

1whobuys, did you ever change the profile on your gladius? the edge on mine is SUPER obtuse. I think it would be massively improved with a sharper edge angle, but it doesn't feel very slicy as it came from the shop

 

[unklfranco]

I can't see a practical use for one but I still want one. It just has a great looking shape and if you wanted to take it out and thump on it, you know it can take it. I just have to come up with the 1000 bucks it takes to get one.

 

[retrocon]

My wife is an expert in history/anthropology, with particularly emphasis on the Celtic islands.

She related to me that the success of the Roman legions had less to do with their short swords (gladii), more to do with (just like the Spartans) their tremendous discipline, and also their defense equipment + infantry tactics, in particular their armor & full phalanx shields (which many of the peoples conquered did NOT have), and testudo.

A film which strives to depict this realistically (along with certain other aspects of life at the time) is The Eagle. (Note, if you bother to see this film, find the 'alternate' ending which better fits the story-line than the theatrical release). In particular there is a scene in which a handful of retired Roman legionnaires defeated a troop of Celts in their prime - I laughed at the unlikelihood of such victory, but my wife proceeded to deliver a lecture on the effectiveness of Roman defensive equipment and their training as unit force vs. individual warriors. *shrug*



That said, an INFI Gladius does indeed exude 'awesomeness' and I will always want one (and can't afford one), regardless of its utility. :thumbup:

Awesome that you have such a great source for historical information about that era... let me know if you need any dinner guests, because the conversations sound excellent ;-)

That said... without looking it up, and at the risk of looking ignorant, does testudo mean what i think it means???

 

[Alvaro Candanedo]

Awesome that you have such a great source for historical information about that era... let me know if you need any dinner guests, because the conversations sound excellent ;-)

That said... without looking it up, and at the risk of looking ignorant, does testudo mean what i think it means???

I don't know what you think, and at the risk of sounding pedantic, the testudo (turtle), was a tactical formation of the roman legion, where they covered themselves with their shields, to form some sort of tank. It is depicted in the movie mentioned.