LATE ROMAN IRON SPATHA SWORD

Ca. 200-400 AD. Late Roman. A beautiful legionary sword of the 'spatha' type. This broad parallel-sided spatha has a convergent tip and a rectangular-section guard. The blade is decorated with a circular engraving. A slender tang protruding from the back end would have been wrapped with a handle made of bone meant to increase the soldier's grip while imbuing the weapon with an attractive presentation. Starting around the late 2nd century AD, the Romans began adopting the long, double-edged swords called 'spathae', which were originally only used by the Germanic peoples. The Roman spatha was a key part of Roman military equipment used in war and in gladiatorial fights. In literature, the spatha appears in the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD as a weapon used by presumably Germanic auxiliaries and gradually became a standard heavy infantry weapon from the late 2nd century AD onwards, relegating the gladius to use as a light infantry weapon. While the infantry's spathae had a long point, versions carried by the cavalry had a rounded tip that prevented accidental stabbing of the cavalryman's own foot or horse. Good condition; custom-made stand included. To find out more about spathae, see Bishop, C. C. (2020). The Spatha: the Roman Longsword. Bloomsbury Publishing.Size: L:800mm / W:90mm ; 670g. Provenance: Property of a European collector. Formerly in the collection of Earl Mitchell, London 1990s