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 ...

ROMAN: Roman language ... The swords the Romans carried were called a gladius. The blade was short and broad and it had a very sharp tip. It was designed to be thrust straight out in a stabbing ...

They were shorter than the Roman gladius used by foot soldiers and had features found in spatha, a weapon with long, straight blades. The blade's elevation combined with other qualities made the ...