The Abandonment of the Gladius for the Spatha - Why?

[tlclark]

The gladius seems to have acquired a reputation as a thrusting sword somehow, but how much evidence is there really that it wasn't always a cut and thrust sword? Cf. the persistent idea of calling the gladius a short sword even though it's in fact quite debatable if you look at blade length. Maybe the thrusting gladius is simply one of those old ideas that have gotten stuck somehow?

Now just to set this up, I know about as much about sword-fighting as I do about quantum mechanics. That' rear-covering qualifier out of the way, I have to say I couldn't agree more with the above.

Fencing today is all-about thrusting, yet the foils is thin and sharp. Doesn't that describe the spatha and not the Gladius? Likewise when you butcher a chicken you want a big heavy wide blade for chopping, and a thin knife for carving.

A gladius seems like a glorified meat cleaver to me, meant to sunder fingers from hands and limbs from bodies. I can't imagine trying to perry and thrust with the thing, but that's just me.

Travis