Semispathae

[Flavivs Aetivs]

I wouldn't put much faith in McBride's "squat" little Huns with "Mongoloid" features. By the time the Xiong-nu reached Europe, now as "Huns," they probably were an admixture of physical traits. Their swords were hardly any different than the Gothic or late Sarmatian ones, and might be best described as "Migration era." Even the Alemanni and Franks borrowed the design, and it extended (with its straight grip-check) into the medieval period as the "cruxiform" sword. ;-)

back to Benjamin,

That's a damned nice sword! :woot:

I agree, I believe the Huns were the culmination of Xiongnu and Turks, the latter being the dominant trait, who moved west and then mixed with Germanics and Finno-Ugrian peoples.

Also, "Sammy Spatha" wouldn't work as that name didn't come around until 1000 years later or so...