Why did Celts wear their swords on the right?

[The Alexandrian]

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:

[Alanus]

I think Celts carried their swords on whichever side was convenient. A Celtic horseman would have it hanging to the left. Another factor might be the wearing of a sagum which would impede practicality and speed when drawing a rather long slashing-sword of Celtic type. Check out the thread "Curious Celtic Rider."

[Paullus Scipio]

The main advantage of wearing your scabbard on the right ( for infantry at least) is that with your shield in front of you and your left side thrown forward, your scabbard is behind you, out of the way, and not liable to be between you and your shield where it can get in the way. This is especially true of troops whose first weapon is a throwing one, for they need the scabbard and sword hilt to stay out of the way while throwing......