Editing Spatha

{{Short description|Roman longsword}}
{{distinguish|Sparta}}
[[Image:Spatha end of second century 1.jpg|thumb|150px|Roman era reenactor holding a [[Deepeeka|replica]] late Roman ''spatha'']]
The '''spatha''' was a type of straight and long [[sword]], measuring between {{convert|0.5|and|1|m|in|round=5|abbr=off}}, with a handle length of between {{convert|18|and|20|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=off}}, in use in the territory of the [[Roman Empire]] during the 1st to 6th centuries AD. Later swords, from the 7th to 10th centuries, like the [[Viking sword]]s, are recognizable derivatives and sometimes subsumed under the term ''spatha''.

The Roman ''spatha'' was used in war and in [[gladiator]]ial fights. The ''spatha'' of literature appears in the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD as a weapon used by presumably [[Celtic peoples|Celtic]] [[auxilia]]ries and gradually became a standard [[heavy infantry]] weapon by the 3rd century AD, relegating the ''[[gladius]]'' to use as a [[light infantry]] weapon. The ''spatha'' apparently replaced the ''gladius'' in the front ranks, giving the infantry more reach when thrusting. While the infantry version had a long point, versions carried by the [[Roman cavalry|cavalry]] had a rounded tip that prevented accidental stabbing of the cavalryman's own foot or horse.

Archaeologically many instances of the ''spatha'' have been found in Britain and Germany. It was used extensively by [[Early Germanic warfare|Germanic warriors]]. It is unclear whether it came from the ''[[gladius]]'' or the longer [[Iron Age sword|Celtic swords]], or whether it served as a model for the various [[arming sword]]s and Viking swords of Europe. The ''spatha'' remained popular throughout the [[Migration Period]]. It evolved into the [[knightly sword]] of the [[High Middle Ages]] by the 12th century.

==Etymology==
The word comes from the [[Latin]] ''spatha'',<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dspatha spatha], Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, ''A Latin Dictionary'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> which derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''{{lang|grc|σπάθη}}'' (''spáthē''), meaning "any broad blade, of wood or metal" but also "broad blade of a sword".<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dspa%2Fqh σπάθη], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref>

The Greek word {{lang|grc|σπάθη}} was used in the middle [[Archaic Greece|archaic period]] for various types of [[Iron Age sword]]s. The word does not appear in [[Homeric Greek]], but it is mentioned in the works of [[Alcaeus of Mytilene]] (sixth century BC)<ref>"Χαλκίδικαι σπάθαι" (''Chalcidian spathai''), Alcaeus, 15.6</ref> and  [[Theophrastus]] (fourth century BC).<ref>Theophrastus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0093,009:25:4&lang=original ''Characters'', 25.4], original Greek text, on Perseus Digital Library</ref>

It is likely that ''spatha'' is the [[romanization]] of the [[Doric Greek]] word σπάθα (''spáthā'').<ref>recorded in the accusative plural, as σπάθας (''spáthās''). AP6.288 (Leon.) LSJ, s.v. "σπάθη".</ref> The word survives in Modern Greek as {{lang|el|[[:wikt:σπάθη|σπάθη]]}} and {{lang|el|[[:wikt:σπαθί|σπαθί]]}}. The Latin word became the French ''[[:wikt:épée|épée]]'', Catalan and Occitan ''[[:wikt:espasa|espasa]]'', Portuguese and Spanish ''[[:wikt:espada|espada]]'', Italian ''[[:wikt:spada|spada]]'', Romanian ''spadă'' and Albanian ''[[:wikt:shpata|shpata]]'', all meaning "sword". The English word ''[[:wikt:spatula|spatula]]'' comes from Latin ''spat''(''h'')''ula'', the diminutive of ''spatha''. English [[:wikt:spade|spade]], from Old English ''spadu'' or ''spædu'', is the Germanic [[cognate]], derived from a [[Common Germanic]] ''*spadō'', ultimately from a [[Proto-Indo-European]] stem ''*sph<sub>2</sub>-dh-''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Villamor|first=Fernando|title=2500 Pie Roots Deciphered|publisher=Getafe|year=2017}}</ref>

== Usage ==
During the [[Second Punic War]], [[Celts|Celtic]] [[Celtic warfare#Mercenaries|mercenaries]] introduced the ''spatha'' to the [[Roman army]]. The ''spatha'' was a weapon used by the [[Roman cavalry|cavalrymen]], while the [[auxilia]]ries and [[Legionary|legionaries]] of the infantry used the ''[[gladius]]'' instead.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Bishop|first=M.C|title=The Spatha: The Roman Long Sword|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2020|isbn=978-147-283-240-5}}</ref> Eventually, the Roman infantry would adopt the ''spatha'' in the 2nd century.<ref name=":0" /> It was a very versatile sword, undergoing many changes from its origins in [[Gaul]] to its usage in the [[Roman military]]. The blade was 60 to 75&nbsp;cm (24 to 30&nbsp;inches) long.

== Forging ==
The [[pattern welding]] was used to strengthen the core of the blade. The appearance of the metal was enhanced due to [[inlay]] and contrasting metals. The sword also incorporated one or two forged fullers, thus making the ''spatha'' a strong and lightweight blade.<ref name=":0" />

==History==

=== Roman Empire ===
[[File:Roman Cavalry 2 - cropped.JPG|thumb|[[Roman cavalry]] reenactor wearing a replica ''spatha'']]
[[File:7946 - Venezia - Tetrarchi in Piazza San Marco - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 8-Aug-2007.jpg|thumb|Depiction of swords with hilts fashioned in the shape of eagles' heads ([[Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs]], c. AD 300)]]
The ''spatha'' was first introduced to the Romans by [[Celts|Celtic mercenaries]] during the [[Second Punic War]]. The Celts would have used weaponry and armor from their homeland, and one of the Celtic weapons would have been the ''spatha.''<ref name=":0" /> Although many believe that the ''spatha'' was adopted by the Romans due to contact with [[Germania]], this is not true.<ref name=":0" />

The earlier ''[[gladius]]'' sword was gradually replaced by the ''spatha'' from the late 2nd to the 3rd century AD. From the early 3rd century, legionaries and cavalrymen began to wear their swords on the left side, perhaps because the ''[[scutum (shield)|scutum]]'' had been abandoned and the ''spatha'' had replaced the ''gladius''.<ref>Lesley Adkins, Roy A. Adkins, ''Handbook to life in ancient Rome'', Oxford University Press, 1998
{{ISBN|978-0-19-512332-6}}, p. 87.</ref>

In the imperial period, the Romans adopted the original Greek term, ''spáthē'' (σπάθη), as ''spatha'', which still carried the general meaning of any object considered long and flat.<ref>An online version of "Middle Liddell" is offered at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/, referring to the middle of three sizes in which the most commonly used [[lexicon]] by Liddell & Scott has been published. The unabridged is preferable for research, as it lists all the uses in ancient Greek of the word.</ref> ''Spatha'' appears, first in [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and then in [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], with different meanings: a spatula, a metal-working implement, a palm-leaf and so on.<ref>An interactive Latin dictionary, Lewis & Short, based on Andrews, is given at www.perseus.com, but any good printed Latin dictionary also states the various uses and sources of spatha.</ref> There is no hint of any native Roman sword called a ''spatha''.

Referring to an actual sword, the term first appears in the pages of Tacitus with reference to an incident of the [[Principate|early empire]].<ref>Annales [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/tac/a12030.htm 12.35].</ref> The British king, [[Caratacus]], having rebelled, found himself trapped on a rocky hill, so that if he turned one way he encountered the ''gladii'' of the legionaries, and if the other, the ''spathae'' of the auxiliaries.  There is no indication in Tacitus that they were cavalry.

The next mention of ''spathae'' is in the 5th century, by [[Vegetius]], now as a weapon carried by infantry.

The ''spatha'' remained in use in the [[Byzantine Empire]] and its [[Byzantine army|army]]. In the Byzantine court, ''[[spatharios]]'' (σπαθάριος), or "bearer of the ''spatha''", was a mid-level [[Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy|court title]]. Other variants deriving from it were ''[[protospatharios]]'', ''spatharokandidatos'' and ''spatharokoubikoularios'', the latter reserved for [[eunuchs]]. One of the more famous ''spatharokandidatoi'' was [[Harald III of Norway|Harald Hardrada]].<ref>Kekaumenos, ''Strategikon'', "Oration of Admonition to an Emperor", para. 81</ref>

===Roman Iron Age===
[[File:Spadalongobarda.jpg|thumb|80px|Replica of a [[Lombards|Lombard]] ''spatha'', on exhibit in the ''Museo civico archeologico'' in [[Bergamo]]]]
The term "[[Roman Iron Age]]" refers approximately to the time of the [[Roman Empire]] in [[northern Europe]], which was outside the jurisdiction of the empire, but, judging from the imported Roman artifacts, was influenced by Roman civilization. One source of artifacts from this period are the bogs of [[Schleswig]], [[Holstein]] and [[Denmark]]. Objects were deliberately broken and thrown into the bogs in the belief that they could go with a deceased chief on his voyage to a better place.

A cache of 90 swords was found at [[Nydam Mose]] in Denmark in 1858. They were in the form of the ''spatha'' and therefore have been classified as "Roman swords". They are dated to the 3rd to 4th centuries. Many connect the Nydam cache with the sword of [[Beowulf]], who was supposed to be a contemporary.<ref>A professional site may be found at ''[http://www.nydam.nu/tysk/waffenfunde.html das Nydam Moor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313043309/http://nydam.nu/tysk/waffenfunde.html |date=2016-03-13 }}''. German is required but a good picture of a sword is shown. Another site is to be found at ''[http://www.heorot.dk/beo-guide.html#bill Genealogies, Maps, Glossary & Pictorial Guide to Beowulf]''. It presents the ancient Germanic sword vocabulary and shows a picture of a Nydam spatha but does not connect it to a specific name.</ref>

===Migration period===
{{Main|Migration Period sword}}
[[File:Tombstones of Rome horsemen in Germany.jpg|thumb|[[Roman military tombstones|Tombstones]] of Roman cavalrymen buried in Germany:
Roman auxiliary, tombstone in [[Mainz]]; ''[[signifer]]'' of a ''[[turma]]'', tombstone in [[Worms, Germany|Worms]]
]]
[[File:Goldgriffspatha.jpg|thumb|[[Alemanni]]c ''spatha'', 5th century]]
When [[List of ancient Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] began to [[Germanic invasions|invade]] the [[Roman Empire]] during the 3rd and 4th centuries they would come into contact with the ''spatha''.<ref name=":0" /> Surviving examples of these [[Germanic Iron Age]] swords have blades measuring between {{convert|71|and|81|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|43|to|61|mm|in|frac=8|abbr=on}} in width. These single-handed weapons of war sport a [[Tang (tools)|tang]] {{convert|10|to|13|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long and have very little taper in their blades. They usually end in a rounded tip.

===Viking Age===<!-- This section is linked from [[Rus' Khaganate]]. See [[WP:MOS#Section management]] -->
{{Main|Viking sword}}
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2021}}
Perhaps the most recognisable descendants of the ''spathae'' were the [[Viking Age]] blades. These swords took on a much more acute distal taper and point. They had deep [[fuller (weapon)|fullers]] running their length, yet still had single-handed [[hilt]]s which sported a uniquely shaped [[Hilt#Pommel|pommel]], flat at the grip side and roughly triangular early on, with the flat curving to fit the hand later.{{cn|date=March 2024}} While the pattern of hilt and blade design of this type might readily be called a "[[Viking sword]]", to do so would be to neglect the widespread popularity it enjoyed. All over [[continental Europe]] between the 8th and 10th centuries, this design and its variations could be found. Many of the best blades were of [[Franks|Frankish]] origin, given hilts in local centres. These blades had significantly better balance.

During [[Norman England|Norman times]], the blade's length increased by around {{convert|10|cm|in|0|abbr=on}}, and the hilt changed significantly. Instead of the Brazil-nut pommel, a thick disc-shaped pommel was attached "on-edge" to the bottom of the iron hilt. In addition the upper guard grew substantially from the near-absent design predating it. Also, the blades tended to taper slightly less than those found in the time of the [[Vikings]].

[[Jan Petersen (historian)|Jan Petersen]], in ''De Norske Vikingsverd'' (''The Norwegian Viking Swords'', 1919), introduced the most widely used classification of swords of the Viking Age, describing 26 types labelled A–Z. In 1927, [[R. E. M. Wheeler]] condensed Petersen's typology into a simplified typology of nine groups, numbered I–IX.

===Norman swords===
{{Main|Knightly sword}}
The transition from the Viking Age ''spatha''-inspired sword to the [[High Middle Ages|High Medieval]] [[knightly sword]] took place between the 10th and 11th centuries. The main development was the growth of the front handguard into a full [[cross-guard]], and the reduction of the typical Viking Age lobated [[Hilt#Pommel|pommel]] into simpler brazil nut or disc shapes. The [[Sword of Saints Cosmas and Damian |sword]] of [[Otto III]], (total length 95.5&nbsp;cm), preserved as a relic in [[Essen]], is an example of the emerging arming sword, although it has been encrusted with decorations during the ensuing centuries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://freywild.ch/otto.html |title=Freywild - otto |access-date=2005-08-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050508184437/http://freywild.ch/otto.html |archive-date=2005-05-08}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Rome}}
*[[Pugio]]
*[[Viking Age arms and armour]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Ewart Oakeshott, ''The Archaeology of Weapons'', Barnes & Noble, 1994, {{ISBN|1-56619-596-9}}. The book was copyrighted in 1960.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Spathae}}
* [https://www.academia.edu/496288/Some_Typological_Features_of_Byzantine_Spatha Some Typological Features of Byzantine Spatha] by Marko Aleksić (2010)
*[http://vikingsword.com/petersen/index.html THE NORWEGIAN VIKING SWORDS] by JAN PETERSEN (1919) translated by Kristin Noer (1998)
*[http://vikingsword.com/laking/index.html A RECORD OF EUROPEAN ARMOUR AND ARMS THROUGH SEVEN CENTURIES]  by Sir Guy Francis Laking (1919)
*[http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_anatomy.html Anatomy of the Sword] (myArmoury.com article)
*[http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_higgins_vik.html A Sword from the Late Viking Age from the Higgins Museum] (myArmoury.com article)
*[http://vikingsword.com/ VikingSword.com]
*[http://www.swordforum.com/ Sword Forum International] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919110404/http://www.swordforum.com/ |date=2011-09-19 }}

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[[Category:Ancient European swords]]
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[[Category:Edged and bladed weapons]]