About Roman Sword Training
Roman legions carved a path of conquest from the British Isles in the West to modern-day Syria in the east. The Roman army was a highly trained, highly efficient fighting force that was the envy of the late classical world. For the soldiers of the legions, training in weapons, especially swords, was of vital importance to maintaining that empire for hundreds of years.
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History
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Roman soldiers did not always rely upon the sword for their main armament. In the early years of the kingship of Rome, soldiers used Greek-style phalanxes to combat their enemies. Unfortunately for the Roman army, battle conditions in Italy were much different than in Greece and when the Celts sacked Rome in the fourth century BCE; it prompted many fundamental changes in the way Rome fought and conquered. The most important change was the adaptation of the Celtic sword, called the "gladius." The design of the gladius remained essentially the same throughout Rome's history, with some minor modifications, and was meant to be a stabbing and slashing weapon.
Function
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After correctly learning the march, the most important aspect of a Roman soldier's training was learning to handle the sword. Practice began with heavy wicker shields and swords, usually filled with stone or concrete. These weapons were usually twice the weight of their real counterparts in the belief that if a Roman soldier could handle training with heavy weapons and shields, they would be twice as effective with real swords and shields. Soldiers were at first drilled on how to use the weapons, often fighting large wooden poles set in the ground at first. Later the soldiers would move up to fighting each other with the practice swords.
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Types
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Gladiatorial training took a similar tactic, though there was a lot less emphasis on drilling. Gladiators, however, were often in fights for their lives and would train with slightly improved methods. Gladiatorial schools developed the use of the "armatura," which was a wooden weapon that was the same weight as the real weapon with which gladiators learned to exploit weak spots and to counter their opponents' moves and feints. This method was later adopted by the Roman army and was considered so important that those soldiers failing to make the grade received inferior rations than those who were at the top of the class.
Effects
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The effect of this training was a cohort of soldiers that were highly trained and who were at least partially seasoned before they ever saw a battle. Unlike Celtic or Germanic warriors, Roman army tactics emphasized discipline, uniformity and training. When in battle, the individual soldier used his training to stab at exposed body parts, slash at eyes or legs, or to block incoming strikes with shield or sword. The Roman armies were so effective at this type of combat that other groups of people, such as the Celts, Gauls or Germanic tribes, began adopting the Roman way of making war.
Theories/Speculation
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Roman sword training emphasized stabbing over slashing (though both were possible with the gladius) for several reasons. First, stab wounds were almost invariably more fatal than slashing wounds. Slashing wounds were typically shallow, rarely piercing vital organs. Stabbing wounds, even if they did not pierce an organ, were more prone to infection. Also, slashing exposes the arms of the soldier and necessitates more moving of the shield than stabbing does. In order to work effectively, the Roman legions required an almost-impenetrable wall of shields and that, in turn, necessitated a stabbing motion. Still, as enemies broke ranks, or if the legions were overwhelmed, slashing could and did occur.
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