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How Battles Were Fought
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Weapons System

Gladius

Latin, approximately GLAH-dee-oos
Ancient
Gladius glyph

The gladius was the type of sword used by ancient Roman foot soldiers, adapted from a design the Romans encountered among the Celtiberians of Hispania fighting in Carthaginian service during the Punic Wars. Roman legionaries typically threw their javelins (pila) to disable enemy shields and disrupt enemy formations before closing to fight hand to hand with the gladius, a short, primarily thrusting blade between roughly 45 and 68 centimetres long. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Disputed
Introduced Year
216 BCE 1
Adoption is debated: most accounts place Roman adoption of the Celtiberian-pattern gladius hispaniensis after the defeat at Cannae in 216 BC, though contact with the design may go back to the First Punic War (264 to 241 BC).
Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category)
Sword / Polearm / Bladed 1
Weapon Class
Sword 1
Connections

Associated With

Gallic Wars, Wars

The gladius was the Roman legion's standard short sword during Caesar's Gallic Wars.

Source Wikipedia: Gladius
Praetorian Guard, Armed Forces and Units

The Praetorian Guard, like other Roman military units, was armed with the gladius as its standard close-combat sword

Roman Legion, Armed Forces and Units
Source Wikipedia: Gladius

Operated By

Roman Legion, Armed Forces and Units
Source Wikipedia: Gladius
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Gladius
Wikipedia
  • Opening section
    a Latin word properly referring to the type of sword that was used by ancient Roman foot soldiers...the Romans adopted a weapon based on the sword of the Celtiberians of Hispania in service to Carthage during the Punic Wars.
  • Specifications table
  • Introduction
  • Lead section, first paragraph
    is a Latin word properly referring to the type of sword that was used by ancient Roman foot soldiers starting from the 3rd century BC and until the 3rd century AD.
  • Introduced circa -216 per the entity's own sourced description text; no pre-1900 weapon system remains in current active military service.
  • Associated With: Roman Legion
  • Operated By: Roman Legion, Infobox, used by field
    Infobox used by: Roman foot soldiers during the wars of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire
View the Source
Wikidata: Gladius
Wikidata Q274556, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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