Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="enigma5915" data-source="post: 5830864" data-attributes="member: 60095">Jester, regarding the comment you made concerning Gladii and Shortswords. . . Actually there is an incredible difference, starting with metallurgy -the gladius was carbon steel which was pliant, incredibly sharp, light weight and prone to dulling and rusting quickly. Bladed only on one side, it was excellent for hewing and slicing, but not thrusting. A shortsword on the other hand was crafted of a more substantial steel which was incapable of holding the same edge, but also did not dull as quickly or succumb to the elements as immediately. It was designed with a piercing point to penetrate segmented armour and break through chain, with a more rigorous steel so it would not lose what edge it had by being constantly hammered against hard surfaces -such as metal armour- which also made it more prone to snapping. In any case, they had different designs, different compositions and different uses. In short, a Roman Gladius would be great if you wanted to kill someone wearing leather armour or lacking any entirely, but once the standard soldier began sporting chain mail on the battle field a shortsword was necessary. While a filet knife and a butcher knife will spread margerine as well as a butter knife, that does not in any way make them all somehow equivilent to one another.</blockquote>