Falx

The falx is a curved, single-edged weapon used by the Dacians and neighboring Thracian peoples of the lower Danube region from at least the first century BCE through the early second century CE, built either as a long two-handed polearm or as a shorter one-handed sickle-sword, both sharing an inward-curving blade that concentrated cutting force toward the tip. Roman accounts and modern archaeological finds credit the falx with inflicting severe wounds capable of cutting through the standard Roman legionary shield and even contemporary Roman helmets and armor, prompting the Roman army to reinforce helmets with additional cross-braces and to issue extra arm and leg guards to units fighting the Dacians. The weapon is best known from the Dacian Wars fought by the emperors Domitian and Trajan in the late first and early second centuries CE, culminating in Trajan's conquest of Dacia in 106 CE, a campaign commemorated in detailed relief carvings on Trajan's Column in Rome that depict Dacian warriors wielding the falx.