Roman Weapons and Armor

Roman Weapons and Armor

-Click on the pictures below for a larger version-

The author's set of replica Roman armor

During the five centuries of the Republic Rome found herself engaged in a series of wars that not only resulted in massive expansion of Roman territory, but also in the evolution of the Roman Army into a supreme offensive force. Previous methods of warfare, such as the Greek phalanx tactics, called for a wall of round shields and long thrusting spears- a mode of fighting that tended to favor the side on the defensive.

By the mid-1st century a.d. the Romans had developed a weapons system that produced highly effective results on the battlefield. First there was the armor. Known as loricae segmentatae, the laminated cuirass consisted of a series of overlapping iron plates riveted to leather straps, which offered excellent protection to a soldier's trunk while allowing him a wide range of movement. The other standard issue piece of armor was the helmet or galae, which was issued in several styles, most of which included hinged cheek plates and a wide neck guard. How often greaves, or leg guards, were worn is open to debate.

The scutum (left) and pilum (right).

Completing the legionary's defensive equipment was the shield or scutum. This curved wooden shield allowed a legion to form a moving wall, which could be used to drive a disorganized foe backwards like the crowd-control tactics used by modern-day police forces. The throwing spear or pilum was used from about 100 b.c. to a.d. 250. It could be used as a thrusting weapon, but was best when thrown as a javelin. Even if an enemy soldier managed to block the flight of an incoming pilum with his shield, its long, square-based tip would pass through the shield while the long shank would allow the head of the pilum to reach the enemy's body. Thus the relatively simple pilum became the world's first armor-piercing missile.

Greek weapons: the hoplite sword (left) and kopis (right).

The earliest weapons that will be considered here are the Greek weapons that were still in use at the start of Rome's rise to power. The sword of the Greek hoplite was essentially a slashing weapon made of iron or steel and intended to be used as a backup to the thrusting spear, although it evolved from the efficient bronze "grip-tongue" cut-and-thrust swords (Naue Type II swords or Griffzungenschwerter) of the Mediterranean "dark ages" immortalized by Homer.

The forward-curving single-edged sword known to the Greeks as the kopis and Romans as the falcata served alongside the hoplite sword. Although many models of the falcata were balanced as a cut-and-thrust sword, the forward curving edge makes it an excellent chopping weapon.

The Atienza-type sword (left) and pugio dagger (right).

In Spain the Greek hoplite sword evolved into a light thrusting weapon by ca. 350 b.c., and by 150 b.c. the historian Polybius records that Roman soldiers were being issued then new gladius hispaniensis, or 'Spanish sword.' The dagger, or pugio, seems also to have developed in Spain, and from archaeological contexts in can be associated with Roman troops as early as 133 b.c.

Gladii: The Mainz-pattern (left) and the Pompeian-pattern (right).

In the Imperial Roman Army the standard sidearm became the gladius, a weapon which also loaned its name to the gladiators or 'swordsmen' of the arenas. After the pilum had been thrown, the legionaries would close to close range where these cut and thrust swords would be used. Examples found in Germany from the first century b.c. display a 'waisting' of the blade to improve balance and a long, narrow point. Later models from early 1st century a.d. Pompeii abandoned the waisting of the Mainz model and have a shorter point. Some historians believe that the Pompeian model was cheaper to manufacture and that the shorter point meant that it was intended for use in hacking frays against the unarmored barbarians of the pax Romana rather than to thrust through the armor of the organized troops belonging to the nations Rome had conquered in the past. It is also interesting to note that the Pompeian-pattern gladius appears to have had an early association with the gladiators, so the style may have been adopted by the Roman army after it was "tested" in the arenas.

Late swords- the spatha (left) and the U.S. Model 1832 Artillery Short Sword (right).

After a.d. 150, the short sword began to be replaced by the spatha, a cavalry sword that had been introduced by the Celts in the late first century. The rise of the spatha as an infantry weapon reflects a dawning realization that in sword fights the longer sword has an advantage, plus a new emphasis on the role of cavalry in warfare. After the fall of Rome the spatha evolved into the cruciform sword of the Middle Ages, the weapon of choice of the heavily armed and armored knight who dominated the era... until the invention of gunpowder.

The Roman gladius did have one last revival, however. During the late 1700's neo-classical swords were in vogue in Napoleon's France, and by 1831 the French army was issuing a short sword based on the gladius to its artillerymen as a backup weapon in case they were charged by infantry or cavalry.

The United States liked the idea and issued a copy of the sword to gunners in the U.S. Army. The Model 1832 Foot Artillery Sword was an anachronism as soon as it was adopted, but it remained in service until 1870.

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