The Gladius- Research a typically Roman weapon, find out how they used it, and compare it with Rome, and what the other civilizations of the same era used as it's equivalent.

Essay by 04117Junior High, 8th grade September 2007

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Just as the Pike is typically Swiss, the Longbow English, and the composite shortbow Mongolian. Although these weapons weren’t first made by the culture they are remembered by, they are considered to be of that culture because of either they represent the people they were used by, or they were used especially well by that culture, or both. In the case of the pike, the Swiss didn’t make it, nor were they in any way represented by it, but they made particular use of it in their war of independence, and in the fifty years war led by their tactical genius Prince Gustavus Adolphus. The English likewise weren’t the first to make the longbow, and neither were they the first to use them in battle, but they were the first to mass them into a massed volley during the Hundred years wars. The Mongolians also used their composite shortbows extremely well, but they were also represented by it.

The Europeans always though of the composite shortbow as a crude, ungainly, and ugly weapon, which could resist an amazing amount of pressure. The Mongolians were crude and ugly in European terms, acting in a barbaric manner. Made bowlegged from riding since they were able to walk, the Mongols could resist an almost incomprehensive amount of hardship, a complete duplicate of the weapon that he used so much.

The gladius was very much linked to the culture that used it just as the other weapons that are mentioned above are. The Romans that it is linked with weren’t the first to make the weapon. Nor were they the first to utilize it in battle. In fact, the weapon was first forged in Hispania by the Spanish. Although the Spanish did use some good tactics with the sword they developed, they didn’t...