Damascus Gladius

[joeandmich]

Has anyone ever seen a damascus roman gladius or spatha?

[goose710]

Joe and Mich
I'm afraid i'm not familiar with that style of sword, but there are some here that are and i'm sure they'll get back to you
da gooseman

[illmade2]

By John Lundemo http://www.odinblades.com/Pages/Odinpage2.html
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/th_DSC08359-medium.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/?action=view&current=DSC08359-medium.jpg)

[illmade2]

A gold hilt Germanic Spatha by http://www.templ.net/english/http://www.templ.net/pics-weapons/117-germanic_gold_hilt_spatha/a17av.jpg

[illmade2]

By Jake Powning http://www.powning.com/jake/home/j_homepg.shtml
http://www.powning.com/jake/images/1gladius2.jpg

[illmade2]

or there is this on Ebay Not exactly up to Vince Evans Standards but you wouldn't have to sell a kidney to get it.,,,
http://cgi.ebay.com/ATS-31-L-CUSTOM-DAMASCUS-STEEL-KNIFE-GLADIUS-SWORD_W0QQitemZ150417816035QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item230599b9e3

[illmade2]

and i almost forgot Deepeeka has a line of Roman swords with Damascan blades http://www.deepeeka.com/armoury/index.html
http://www.deepeeka.com/armoury/documents/AH2002D.jpg
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-97934516468614_2074_28892622

[illmade2]

I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of at 1 am

[illmade2]

if you're talking about historical examples then no, I have never seen one. Although a pattern welded blade is withing the realms of reason.

[Torawashi]

Has anyone ever seen a damascus roman gladius or spatha?

To date none have been excavated. The Roman gladius and spatha were military weapons and the goal of the military procurement system was to make a good sword as cheaply as possible. that's how the Mainz and Fulham types developed into the Pompeii type....the theory is that the Pompeii style blade was much easier and cheaper to manufacture. The folding or welding process of "Damascus" steel would have been cost prohibitive. In the Roman sphere of influence, civilians did not go armed except perhaps with daggers, so wealthy civilians carrying such a sword was by and large pretty much out of the question. Hope this answers your question.

[illmade2]

Yeah what he said!!
The Romans were very practical as far as their weapons, and while the sword of a high ranking general might be of slightly better quality than a rank and file (let's face it if you were making a blade for someone who could be a future Cesar you might polish it up a bit) , the signs of wealth would have more often than not been with the furniture where it could be seen (sword bling). Now that being said someone posted in Norther Europe or the Eastern Empire could have commissioned a special sword to commemorate a victory or some other event, but it would have been a one off and as Tora said none have been found at this time.

[joeandmich]

Thank everyone