Really great presentation, superb illustrations! However, at 15:59 you indicate the sword illustrated is a longer Roman spatha-type used by their cavalry. However, I think it might be a Germanic/Viking-type ring sword? Can't wait to see to the pugio video!
Fantastic video, thank you! One point of contention, however: you stated that "[the gladius] brought the people of the Mediterranean under Italian rule." This is incorrect - Romans considered themselves"Romans," not Italians, so the Mediterranean people were ruled by Romans. In fact, Italy as we know it didn't begin to resemble that statehood until the mid 18th century.
It seems that us italians always favoured the thrust over the cut, as we can see that even in the middle ages italian longswords and arming swords were pointier and more tapered than german ones.
Great video, but you got the manipulat formation the wrong way rund, the triarii, the oldest soldiers, was the last line and the hastati, the youngest, was the front, they even had a saying around it, "rem ad Triarios redisse", It has come to the Triarii, for when all else fails, you send in the Triarii Keep up the good work!
Be interesting to hear a followup about the quality of metallurgy of the iron or steel components of the blade. The thin highly pointed parts of the blade suggests decent steel of some sort.
The Romans were one of the few groups that could make quality iron in quantity. That is evidenced in their laminar armor. I'll keep this idea in mind. Thanks for commenting and I hope to see you around the channel again!
@@TheKnifeLifeChannel I would wonder if 'Quality' iron does a quality sword make. Iron is cheaper than bronze, but I am not sure if a bronze sword is inferior than an iron sword. This is especially true for the tip of a very pointed sword so it does not bend or break. Were any parts of the Roman swords heat treated or of some degree of a decent quality steel. Just what was the hardness of the blades.
Working iron into plate- would that introduce some carbon in the iron I wonder. The Japanese made very sharp swords from an inferior ore without using a crucible steel technique. Southern india was making steel quite early and rome did have commercial contact with India. Just putting some things out there.
I don't particularly believe there is one "best" fighting knife. I like wharncliffes for short self defense knives, Bowies for a dagger sized blade, and the Bavarian longsword for a long blade. But those are just my preferences and are what I've trained with. Context also matters. Is it street defense? Is it a modern military application? Or are we talking old school fighting Spaniards in the Philippines? the weapon and armor of your enemy makes a massive difference.
@@TheKnifeLifeChannel Thanks for the info. I just wanted to get an idea of what I should look at for myself. Since my need would be last ditch defense, I'll look at at short fixed blades. Thanks again.
Bro I didn’t knew this new news! Interesting en quite logical arguments. Altho the part about the republic battle formation you got inverted, the traditional formation whas hastati , pricepese and the the triari as last line of battle. Methatron needs to see this video!😂
You are trying to rewrite history, other then the pommel and guard you can clearly see that the Romans copied the celtiberian short sword. And not just after the Romans capture new Carthage.
How far back in time are you willing to go? I think Acheulean hand axes are the most important knife in all history yet no knife channel talk about it.
The farthest back I've gone so far is the gladius, which has roots going back to about 1500-2000 BC? (I'd have to check my notes again). I actually have been thinking about addressing prehistoric blades. Go far enough back and everything ties back to a sharp rock. I'm working on some more modern blades then I'll see about circling back around to this. Great recommendation, thanks!
Lovely. I got a custom gladius from Pier Paolo. I tried emailing you about that gladius but got non delivery notification. Beautiful room set up by the way.
How do you like it? Do you have any recommendations for someone who just wants a "historically functional" modern Gladius sword? I say "historically functional" because the purpose is to use a sword for it's logical purpose: self defense, but i understand that if a Gladius was made to ancient standards today, it would more or less be a piece of metalic spaghetti; and that any ancient Roman soldier would pay his years salary just to have a big box store machete made by today's standards.
You are correct. I got things messed up while writing the script. I put in a text correction once I realized the mistake. Thank-you for keeping me honest!
OK, I'm sorry in advance, but I'm going to be a pronunciation pedant for a bit. In classical Latin, The U (that is the vowel U, this distinction must be made because back then they would have written it with a V, since the U and W letterforms are medieval innoveations) is practically always pronounced as "oo" as in "book" So "Gladius" is pronounced: Gladioos. The plural of "Gladius" is "Gladii". Note however that in classical latin the "I" is always pronounced as "ee" as in "beet". When 2 "I"s end up one after the other one could pronounce this as 2 "ee"s seperated with a glottal stop (so: "Gladee'ee"), but in general the glottal stop is dropped resulting in a long vowel I, thus it should be pronounced "Gladee". One should NOT pronounce "Gladii" as "Glad-ee-eye"". In classical Latin, the "Eye" sound is written as "ae". And, confusingly, is the plural ending for feminine nouns. Such as singular "Domina" (Lady), plural: "Dominae" (pronounce: Do-meen-eye). Pronouncing the "Eye" suffix on "Gladius" would mangle a masculine noun into a feminine plural noun (Gladiae). Also aplly this to "Triarii" Your pronunciation of Principes and Hastati is also wrong, but I'll stop pestering you for now. However, other than the pronunciation, the information in this video seems very well researched. Thank you.
Shalom! I just found your channel and I am very impressed with your information of the Gladius. By the way, have you ever been told that you sound exactly like David Letterman?
so many things wrong here. first 1500BC would be the late bronze age. then the order of battle was not Triarii in the front. Triarii were in the back hence the roman saying "it came down to the Triarii"
Ok if the sword has gotten its name bc it was produced in spain, than that would however mean that it probaly was a spanish sword bc that would have been what the local smiths would have been skilled at. Other wise sombody else would have to train them first. now while that could have been the case i kind of doupt that, a sword is a sword after all, also how would they make quality roma swords if they are new to them?
Thank-you for sharing! I intend to do a video on the kopis in future. In the mean time I do have a video on the Kukri that is essentially a short Kopis. I hope to see you around the channel again!
dont you guys think the gladius was waisted because it was sharpened over time? i have kitchen knives so old they have a distinct shape...they must have started out as parallel sides but were sharpened over its life.
You say that the romas allready used primaryly swords during the monacial area, do you have any sources to back that up? I mean i absolutly belive that they used them more than the greeks, hoever as far as we / i know hey did fight in shieldwall / phanalx like formations too, and those require spears. this brings me to the next point, you talk about how the romas fought in dense formations with 3 feet per man, this is false, the only sources we have polybious (and somebody else) states that each man has 3 feet, and 3 more to use his sword, so 6 feet. He further states that the troups need that space as otherwise they cant use thier weapons properly and will make a fool out of themselves. Further more there are Multiple accounts of this happen, like cesar at one point ordered his men to not stand so close together. there is also a logical aspect to this. A tight mass f swords men will allways lose to a tight mas of spear men, bc the spearmen in the back can support thier commerades in the front bc of thier reach, somthing swordsmen cant do. Polibious spesificly makes this clear. Now given that you seem to have gotten hat wrong, i really wanna know your sources, especialy as you know about the 3 feet to stand on, but not the 3 extra.
Ive subscribed, the only error i heard was that the Hastati occupied the third line when it was the older, veteran Triarii that were there. Looking forward to more content, my brother!
LOL...Unbeattable....🤣 Anyway, @ 8:31- Do you really think it was that many Brits The Roman's would have fought in one battle as depicted in the painting.
Thanks and cool office! God bless John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Most people think Scotland when you say Celtic, and much of the history of these blades is more affiliated with the Iberian region of the Celtiberian peoples.
The Romans dominated the Greeks for a start, the nation what once held most of the power in the Mediterranean at the time other than carthage, the Macedonian phalanx was destroyed by the legion, they then went on to dominate all the waring tribes and nations in Europe including Dacia one of romes biggest threats, they destroyed carthage and its empire, that was another feat on its own. They met their match against Persian and hun horse archers which in the end made the Romans change tactics and they then made the elite units called cataphracs which were armoured calvary which matched the eastern empires. Don't forget rome lasted around 2200 years in total, any empire what lasts that long with all the civil wars and fronts it fought on through the century's deserves praise.
![The World War 2 Fairbairn Sykes Fighting Knife [What You Need to Know]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yP5U2qjYQ9I/mqdefault.jpg)
Your work is most highly appreciated ,continue with the fascinating content !
Thank-you for your kind words and support!
Definitely liked your video. There is a book by Martina Sprague that covers both gladius and the spatha.
Excellent talk. Well illustrated.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Legionary: "Behold, the UNBEATABBLE Roman GLADIUS!"
Forest: _Germanic rumbling_
Forrest: in German "Where is your lost Legion?"
Really great presentation, superb illustrations! However, at 15:59 you indicate the sword illustrated is a longer Roman spatha-type used by their cavalry. However, I think it might be a Germanic/Viking-type ring sword?
Can't wait to see to the pugio video!
Another great video! Love the channel!
Glad you enjoy it!
Great content. I like the detail youve provided.
Glad you liked it!
Fantastic video, thank you! One point of contention, however: you stated that "[the gladius] brought the people of the Mediterranean under Italian rule." This is incorrect - Romans considered themselves"Romans," not Italians, so the Mediterranean people were ruled by Romans. In fact, Italy as we know it didn't begin to resemble that statehood until the mid 18th century.
True enough. Thanks for commenting!
@@TheKnifeLifeChannel I realize it was a silly nit to pick and appreciate your humoring me. I really enjoy your work, looking forward to more.
@@TheKnifeLifeChannel
I love the Knife life....
It's time to boogie...
Bring the phalanx round oh yeah!!
Italy was italia.. and the Gladius is from a celtic design.
It seems that us italians always favoured the thrust over the cut, as we can see that even in the middle ages italian longswords and arming swords were pointier and more tapered than german ones.
Well done.
Thank-you!
love these videos man, thank u
Thanks a lot for making and sharing these videoes. It`s a pleasure to watch.
Glad you like them! Thanks for your support!
Great video, but you got the manipulat formation the wrong way rund, the triarii, the oldest soldiers, was the last line and the hastati, the youngest, was the front, they even had a saying around it, "rem ad Triarios redisse", It has come to the Triarii, for when all else fails, you send in the Triarii
Keep up the good work!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video! I did get that backwards and added in a text correction in the video. Let me know if that isn't showing up! Thanks!
Fascinating presentstion!
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Be interesting to hear a followup about the quality of metallurgy of the iron or steel components of the blade. The thin highly pointed parts of the blade suggests decent steel of some sort.
The Romans were one of the few groups that could make quality iron in quantity. That is evidenced in their laminar armor. I'll keep this idea in mind. Thanks for commenting and I hope to see you around the channel again!
@@TheKnifeLifeChannel I would wonder if 'Quality' iron does a quality sword make. Iron is cheaper than bronze, but I am not sure if a bronze sword is inferior than an iron sword. This is especially true for the tip of a very pointed sword so it does not bend or break. Were any parts of the Roman swords heat treated or of some degree of a decent quality steel. Just what was the hardness of the blades.
Working iron into plate- would that introduce some carbon in the iron I wonder. The Japanese made very sharp swords from an inferior ore without using a crucible steel technique. Southern india was making steel quite early and rome did have commercial contact with India. Just putting some things out there.
Great content 👌, heads are exploding as I reply. You make some great points and your research is very good. Thankyou very much for sharing..........😖💥
I'm glad you enjoyed the video and got something new out of it!
You sure put a lot of work into this presentation.
Well done.
"challenging" can be a good thing.
Thanks. I really enjoyed this.
Thank-you! This video was a lot of work, but I'm always trying to improve on the last video at least a little bit!
So, what in your opinion, is the best fighting knife? Thanks
I don't particularly believe there is one "best" fighting knife. I like wharncliffes for short self defense knives, Bowies for a dagger sized blade, and the Bavarian longsword for a long blade. But those are just my preferences and are what I've trained with. Context also matters. Is it street defense? Is it a modern military application? Or are we talking old school fighting Spaniards in the Philippines? the weapon and armor of your enemy makes a massive difference.
@@TheKnifeLifeChannel Thanks for the info. I just wanted to get an idea of what I should look at for myself. Since my need would be last ditch defense, I'll look at at short fixed blades. Thanks again.
like e boa sorte no canal, tamo junto.
Bro I didn’t knew this new news! Interesting en quite logical arguments.
Altho the part about the republic battle formation you got inverted, the traditional formation whas hastati , pricepese and the the triari as last line of battle.
Methatron needs to see this video!😂
I definitely got the formations inverted, there should be a note about that in the video. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Excellent video! Very interesting. I'll be looking up those book too! The gladius, is my favorite word...
I'm glad you enjoyed the video and thank-you for your support!
At 5: 22 I believe you got that backwards. The hastati were the front lines and the triarii were in the back. Good video though.
You are correct, I put in a text correction in the video for that. Thanks for keeping me honest and I hope to see you around the channel again!
Unbeatable
Corrected. Thank-you for the heads up
You are trying to rewrite history, other then the pommel and guard you can clearly see that the Romans copied the celtiberian short sword.
And not just after the Romans capture new Carthage.
How far back in time are you willing to go? I think Acheulean hand axes are the most important knife in all history yet no knife channel talk about it.
The farthest back I've gone so far is the gladius, which has roots going back to about 1500-2000 BC? (I'd have to check my notes again). I actually have been thinking about addressing prehistoric blades. Go far enough back and everything ties back to a sharp rock. I'm working on some more modern blades then I'll see about circling back around to this. Great recommendation, thanks!
Lovely. I got a custom gladius from Pier Paolo. I tried emailing you about that gladius but got non delivery notification. Beautiful room set up by the way.
Very nice! The email is theknifelife2020@gmail.com. It's not working for you?
@@TheKnifeLifeChannel Thank you. The email address in the description box has an error.
How do you like it?
Do you have any recommendations for someone who just wants a "historically functional" modern Gladius sword?
I say "historically functional" because the purpose is to use a sword for it's logical purpose: self defense, but i understand that if a Gladius was made to ancient standards today, it would more or less be a piece of metalic spaghetti; and that any ancient Roman soldier would pay his years salary just to have a big box store machete made by today's standards.
Tools change as tactics/opponents change. Old old story, not you Sir! Just warfare is constantly changing.
The proper order of battle for the early to mid republic Roman battle line was hastati, principles then the triarii on the third line.
You are correct. I got things messed up while writing the script. I put in a text correction once I realized the mistake. Thank-you for keeping me honest!
Excellent video! Thanks!
I'm glad you enjoyed! Thank-you for your support!
OK, I'm sorry in advance, but I'm going to be a pronunciation pedant for a bit.
In classical Latin, The U (that is the vowel U, this distinction must be made because back then they would have written it with a V, since the U and W letterforms are medieval innoveations) is practically always pronounced as "oo" as in "book" So "Gladius" is pronounced: Gladioos.
The plural of "Gladius" is "Gladii". Note however that in classical latin the "I" is always pronounced as "ee" as in "beet". When 2 "I"s end up one after the other one could pronounce this as 2 "ee"s seperated with a glottal stop (so: "Gladee'ee"), but in general the glottal stop is dropped resulting in a long vowel I, thus it should be pronounced "Gladee".
One should NOT pronounce "Gladii" as "Glad-ee-eye"". In classical Latin, the "Eye" sound is written as "ae". And, confusingly, is the plural ending for feminine nouns. Such as singular "Domina" (Lady), plural: "Dominae" (pronounce: Do-meen-eye). Pronouncing the "Eye" suffix on "Gladius" would mangle a masculine noun into a feminine plural noun (Gladiae).
Also aplly this to "Triarii"
Your pronunciation of Principes and Hastati is also wrong, but I'll stop pestering you for now.
However, other than the pronunciation, the information in this video seems very well researched. Thank you.
Amazing! Thank you for sharing
My pleasure!
Shalom! I just found your channel and I am very impressed with your information of the Gladius. By the way, have you ever been told that you sound exactly like David Letterman?
I have never had that comparison made before! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for commenting and I hope to see you around the channel again!
so many things wrong here. first 1500BC would be the late bronze age. then the order of battle was not Triarii in the front. Triarii were in the back hence the roman saying "it came down to the Triarii"
love it, would you consider selling me your studio sword and all?
I would be willing to sell the gladius in this video. E-mail me at theknifelife2020@gmail.com
I'd like to get a working copy of the Spartan swords from 300.
The greek kobis sword ?
Parabéns The Knife Life
Att: Weliton Marks - Canal Desbravatube
Thank-you for your support!
Oricalcum?! That exists in the second aquaman movie but as another material.
Very cool! I hope to see you around the channel again!
From Spain, they say? Could the name mean where it was used most at the time?
Interested in the Gladius
Well I hope this video answered your questions!
@@TheKnifeLifeChannelI'd like to purchase it
@@aimeeavey6039 Sounds good,!send me an email at theknifelife2020@gmail.com and we can discuss the details!
hi were both sides sharpen to an edge?
Yes they were.
멋진 예술품
인류의 역사
가장 원초적인 도구
아직도 전통을 유지하는 칼들을 소개 해주십시오
감사합니다
This would be a great blade for self defence against an a wild animal.
Ok if the sword has gotten its name bc it was produced in spain, than that would however mean that it probaly was a spanish sword bc that would have been what the local smiths would have been skilled at. Other wise sombody else would have to train them first. now while that could have been the case i kind of doupt that, a sword is a sword after all, also how would they make quality roma swords if they are new to them?
Very nice sword ❤ the Gladius !
Indeed it is! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Actually I prefer the slightly curved Macedonian Kopis. Just seems to be just as goo thrusting and a bit better slashing.
Thank-you for sharing! I intend to do a video on the kopis in future. In the mean time I do have a video on the Kukri that is essentially a short Kopis. I hope to see you around the channel again!
dont you guys think the gladius was waisted because it was sharpened over time? i have kitchen knives so old they have a distinct shape...they must have started out as parallel sides but were sharpened over its life.
😢o
On
What about the radius?
I'm not sure what you mean?
I want one
Always a pleasure to see you around the channel Mr. Keating!
Try knuckle knives, have some.
Check out my video on the M1917 and M1918 knives! Thanks for your support!
‘Unbeaten’ except they changed for the Spatha. So beaten by the spatha
Puzzled, tactics defined the blade, who else used them, and the tactics? Greeks?
You say that the romas allready used primaryly swords during the monacial area, do you have any sources to back that up? I mean i absolutly belive that they used them more than the greeks, hoever as far as we / i know hey did fight in shieldwall / phanalx like formations too, and those require spears.
this brings me to the next point, you talk about how the romas fought in dense formations with 3 feet per man, this is false, the only sources we have polybious (and somebody else) states that each man has 3 feet, and 3 more to use his sword, so 6 feet. He further states that the troups need that space as otherwise they cant use thier weapons properly and will make a fool out of themselves. Further more there are Multiple accounts of this happen, like cesar at one point ordered his men to not stand so close together.
there is also a logical aspect to this. A tight mass f swords men will allways lose to a tight mas of spear men, bc the spearmen in the back can support thier commerades in the front bc of thier reach, somthing swordsmen cant do. Polibious spesificly makes this clear.
Now given that you seem to have gotten hat wrong, i really wanna know your sources, especialy as you know about the 3 feet to stand on, but not the 3 extra.
Ive subscribed, the only error i heard was that the Hastati occupied the third line when it was the older, veteran Triarii that were there. Looking forward to more content, my brother!
Thank-you! You are correct, that was a mistake in this video. Thanks for commenting and I hope to see you around the channel again!
LOL...Unbeattable....🤣
Anyway, @ 8:31- Do you really think it was that many Brits The Roman's would have fought in one battle as depicted in the painting.
Thanks and cool office!
God bless
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video and I hope to see you around the channel again!
Dude the Roman gladius came from Spain
Ka-bar & Katana Please?
Noted. I'm already working on research for the Tanto.
Cool.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for commenting and I hope to see you around the channel again!
Iberian.. you could have just said celtic..
Most people think Scotland when you say Celtic, and much of the history of these blades is more affiliated with the Iberian region of the Celtiberian peoples.
The roman only fought weakers city, villages, and trips. That is why they used short swords.
Well, the three punic wars, numberous civil wars, and other situations would indicate otherwise.
The Romans dominated the Greeks for a start, the nation what once held most of the power in the Mediterranean at the time other than carthage, the Macedonian phalanx was destroyed by the legion, they then went on to dominate all the waring tribes and nations in Europe including Dacia one of romes biggest threats, they destroyed carthage and its empire, that was another feat on its own. They met their match against Persian and hun horse archers which in the end made the Romans change tactics and they then made the elite units called cataphracs which were armoured calvary which matched the eastern empires. Don't forget rome lasted around 2200 years in total, any empire what lasts that long with all the civil wars and fronts it fought on through the century's deserves praise.