Editing Sword (section)

====Greco-Roman antiquity====
{{Further|Migration Period sword}}

By the time of [[Classical Antiquity]] and the [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] and [[Sassanid Empire]]s in Iran, iron swords were common. The Greek ''[[xiphos]]'' and the Roman ''[[gladius]]'' are typical examples of the type, measuring some {{convert|60|to|70|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hanson |first=Victor Davis |year=1993 |title=Hoplites: the classical Greek battle experience |publisher=Routledge Publishing |pages=25–27 |isbn=978-0-415-09816-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K0LMLn_CA08C&pg=PA25 |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517201753/https://books.google.com/books?id=K0LMLn_CA08C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA25 |archive-date=17 May 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=Adrian Keith |year=1998 |title=The Roman army at war: 100 BC–AD 200 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=216–17 |isbn=978-0-19-815090-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55KE-nNtTRUC&pg=PA217 |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519115953/https://books.google.com/books?id=55KE-nNtTRUC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA217 |archive-date=19 May 2016 }}</ref> The late [[Roman Empire]] introduced the longer ''[[spatha]]''<ref>{{cite book |last=Fields |first=Nic |year=2009 |title=The Roman Army of the Principate 27 BCE–CE 117 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |pages=30–31 |isbn=978-1-84603-386-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_ZVubRc1mQC&pg=PA30 |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508191401/https://books.google.com/books?id=v_ZVubRc1mQC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA30 |archive-date=8 May 2016 }}</ref> (the term for its wielder, ''[[spatharius]]'', became a court rank in [[Constantinople]]), and from this time, the term ''[[longsword]]'' is applied to swords comparatively long for their respective periods.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mantello |first=Frank Anthony C. |author2=Rigg, A. G.|author-link2=A. G. Rigg |year=1996 |title=Medieval Latin: an introduction and bibliographical guide |publisher=CUA Press |pages=447–49 |isbn=978-0-8132-0842-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bb32Th4WAK0C&pg=PA447 |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511171922/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bb32Th4WAK0C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA447 |archive-date=11 May 2016 }}</ref>

Swords from the Parthian and Sassanian Empires were quite long, the blades on some late Sassanian swords being just under a metre long.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramsey |first=Syed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCQzDAAAQBAJ&dq=Swords+from+the+Parthian+and+Sassanian+Empires+were+quite+long,+the+blades+on+some+late+Sassanian+swords+being+just+under+a+metre+long.&pg=PT120 |title=Tools of War: History of Weapons in Ancient Times |date=2016-05-12 |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |isbn=978-93-86019-80-6 |language=en}}</ref>

Swords were also used to administer various [[physical punishment]]s, such as non-surgical [[amputation]] or [[capital punishment]] by [[decapitation]]. The use of a sword, an honourable weapon, was regarded in Europe since [[Roman Republic|Roman times]] as a privilege reserved for the [[nobility]] and the upper classes.<ref>Naish, p. 39.</ref>