It turned out to be a remarkable find; a Roman sword; a spatha dated to the 2nd-3rd century AD and rare in Britain. It is one of only eight in the country, most of these were recovered from Roman ...

JULIA: I just found this fragment of rusty metal. It doesn’t look like much but this was once a sword. A sword known as…the gladius! The gladius was part of the Roman soldier’s equipment ...

The Roman Empire was created and controlled by its ... Each legionnaire (or 'miles') carried a short sword, called a gladius. This was his main weapon. He also carried a 'pilum' (javelin), a ...