Weapons Systems
Gladius
Latin, approximately GLAH-dee-oos
Ancient, Roman Republic
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
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.
Facts
Disputed
Introduced YearAdoption 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 ClassSword (short thrusting blade) 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.