Damascus Steel

[jackmcauliffe]

Roman swords were absolutely patterned (and pattern welded). It becomes much more prevalent in the later periods but was common as a purposeful technique since contact with the celts who pattern welded their blades. There are many examples of both, Im sorry I am not on my personal computer with pictures but I can show you another time.

I say purposeful as well because Roman Iron was typically made from bloom steel, if not crucible steel (as described by aristotle) which once finished has a "random pattern" effect. The formation of the steel has deposits of low(er) and high(er) carbon depending on the amount of exposure to carbon based fuel. This process allows some blooms to be purposefully higher in carbon content than others. Which at first on their own would produce pattern with corrosion and later would be combined together to make purposeful patterns that we commonly see in later germanic swords.