Only the finest reproductions of the Roman short sword such as Mark Morrow's Gladius can do justice to the real thing.  I'm sure there are some pretty good replicas from the Philippines, India or even good Chinese copies out there.  But I'm almost equally certain there's going to be that little something that throws the imitation off as far as either Historical accuracy or the overall craftsmanship or attention to detail that's been lavished on it. 

To watch the video click here

Mark Morrow Roman Gladius on top.  Below it a Windlass Steelcrafts Spartan short sword.

In the video I've mentioned that Mark Morrow's gladius is a $1000 piece, which isn't quite altogether true.  For one thing over $350 of its cost is represented by its sheath.  I've read that this is where many reproductions fall down when the quality of the scabbard is not up to the standards set by the sword itself.  I've also paid a little more for Mark's shipping it to me because I live in Thailand.   But no matter which way you cut it getting a sword from Mark is much more of an investment than what you might pay elsewhere.  However, that investment gets you closer to the real Roman sword than about anything else that's out there.  Mark uses real bone and real wood similar to what the Romans had to work with a couple of thousand years ago.  I'm also confident that his gladius is the same size, weight and overall balance real Roman weapons had.  The only main differences I can see between what a real Roman soldier had to fight with and what's hanging on my wall is that my wall ornament is a whole lot better than what the legionnaires in Caesar's time brought to the battlefield.  For one thing, the sword I got from Mark is made from much better steel than the ancients had back then. 

My gladius is actually a scary thing to take down from the wall.   Its twin edged blade is over two inches wide and it's razor sharp.   And since the sword is over two pounds just the thought of it slipping out of my hand and down upon my foot sends shivers up and down my spine.  Its exquisite in every detail without anything being as much as a hair width out of line. 

I have other swords that are nearly equally sharp.  And my Japanese Katana as well as my largest kuhkuri actually weights a little bit more.  Neither is as terrifying, however.  Thinking back on how a gladius was actually used, in close combat pitting one large enemy unit against one's own, the gladius was used primarily as a thrusting, stabbing weapon rather than as a slashing weapons.  Roman soldiers were instructed to go for the groin or abdomen first while preferably keeping their shields still out in front of them.    Typically this would be in the melee after the legionnaires had first thrown their pila at their enemies.  By the time the two opposing forces had collided there would be both dead and wounded underneath one's feet while many of the enemy who were still able to stand will have thrown away their shields which would have been rendered useless by the pila stuck inside of them.   Without their shields and having to face the heavily armed Roman soldiers behind their wall of shields while having all those short swords flashing out at their guts, it is said that the prospects for such enemy combatants was pretty close to a death sentence. 

Although this might have been the ideal use of the gladius the Roman short sword had to have been a very versatile piece of equipment.  It had to be up to quickly taking the head off an enemy or slashing a man's arm or leg straight off with a single blow.  It was the finest sword of the battlefield from roughly 200 b.c. all the way up to 400 a.d. right before Alaric sacked Rome.  By this time it had started to give way to longer edged weapons, which were no doubt supposed to have been more effective against cavalry which had come into more widespread use.  It is often said that the overall quality of the Roman legions had deteriorated simultaneously as the quality of the Roman soldier's equipment.   So on that note, it could easily be said that the Roman gladius was the king of swords for as long as the Roman Legionaire was regarded as the finest fighting man on earth, a period of time that by even the most conservative estimations extended for at least four hundred years.