10-09-2009, 04:48 PM
I was wondering - precisely why did ancient Gaulish warriors wear their swords on the right side of their bodies? I have had it explained to me that Romans did this so as to reduce the risk of harming the soldier on their left side when drawing the sword - but in light of the looser formations used by the Celts, I don't see that this would apply to them.
Perhaps, with the sword being the iconic weapon of the champion or the professional warrior in the Celtic world, they simply wore their swords on the right to show them off, so they wouldn't be obscured by the shield?
I was also curious if anyone knows how widespread this custom was in the ancient world - for example, I have seen Dacians recreated with swords on the right, but I have seen Germanic warriors shown with the sword on the left, and I have never heard of Greek or Hellenistic soldiers wearing the sword on the right.
Any insights would be very much appreciated :mrgreen:
Perhaps, with the sword being the iconic weapon of the champion or the professional warrior in the Celtic world, they simply wore their swords on the right to show them off, so they wouldn't be obscured by the shield?
I was also curious if anyone knows how widespread this custom was in the ancient world - for example, I have seen Dacians recreated with swords on the right, but I have seen Germanic warriors shown with the sword on the left, and I have never heard of Greek or Hellenistic soldiers wearing the sword on the right.
Any insights would be very much appreciated :mrgreen:
Jonathan
"Fortune favors the bold"
"Fortune favors the bold"