Spatha
In use during the Roman Empire from the 1st to 6th centuries AD, the spatha was a straight and double-edged long sword, with a blade measuring between 30 to 40 inches, that could be used single-handed or with a two-hand grip. The spatha’s name was derived from a Latin word meaning “broad sword”, and it survives to this day in Romance languages descended from Latin as the word for “sword”, such as the Italian Spada, the Spanish and Portuguese espada, the Catalan espasa, or Romanian spada.
The spatha initially reached the Roman military via Celtic cavalry auxiliaries, who used their traditional swords with blades measuring about 33 inches in length, which gave them longer reach than the standard Roman gladius to strike and slash at targets below. From Celtic cavalry auxiliaries, use of the spatha spread throughout the Roman military, and in due course, it was adopted by foot soldiers.
By the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, the spatha had become the standard sword of Roman heavy infantry, giving them more reach when thrusting than could the gladius, which ended up being relegated to the role of sidearm of the light infantry. The cavalry version of the spatha had a rounded tip to avert the accidental stabbing of the rider’s foot or the horse’s side, while the infantry spatha had a long and sharp point suitable for thrusting.
Following its introduction to the Roman army, the spatha was enthusiastically embraced by Germanic auxiliaries, both infantry and cavalry, and from them it reached their Germanic tribes back home, where it became popular. From those Germanic tribes, the spatha became the template of early Medieval swords following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It evolved into the Viking sword centuries later, and later still, influenced the development of the arming sword. In the Eastern Roman Empire it survived in the Byzantine army and court for centuries more, and until it finally fell in 1453, the Byzantines had a mid-level court title named spatharios, meaning “bearer of the spatha”.