This ^ celtic longswords were used as slashing weapons and became a hindrance in the press - gladii were able to thrust out between the shield wall and were used, sensibly, as thrusting weapons.

Catastrophe by David Keys published in 1999 goes into this topic and develops it describing further historical repercussions. Fun book!

[removed]

That is not correctamente. Is ok the ice of the poles forma where is extracted the traces of the Rome's metal extracting, mostly, silver on spain.

I thought the reason the gladius was short was that it allowed the legionaries to get up close and personal with the enemy. The Gauls used longswords. That gets you a couple of good pokes at the Roman's shield before the Roman is in your face. You don't have room to use your longsword, while he's getting stabby. Same goes for spears: very effective until the enemy is up close, then useless.

>because success in war could determine their advancement or even survival

It was also prestigious to have a well-equipped unit, much like it is prestigious to have a Mercedes today. So there was a kind of competition between the wealthy in this regard.

(Not only in this regard. House slaves from rich households often wore so lavish garments that there were legal attempts to get this under control; the nominally poor, but free Roman citizens resented meeting well-dressed slaves in the streets.)

That sounds really cool and horrifying at the same time, kind of like a fantasy setting. I can google this sort of stuff, but are there any articles you found particularly good about the subject that you'd recommend?

I mean, if the Western empire lasted as long as the Byzantines they'd probably bring about some sort of Industrial Revolution in the Middle Ages.

[removed]

We were also able to legislate our way out of the CFC and leaded gasoline crises. Though with the oil industry is gonna be much more difficult. It's not only a matter of technology. And even after we manage to solve that, plastic's probably going to be the next big problem.

[removed]

Also take into account they weren't as pure or as advanced as medieval swords, but they were designed to be mass produced as they were simple design. So things like the handle and guard could be made quickly and efficiently.

Oh but the civilization began just 3000 years ago

Any good series (video/documentary) on French history? Looking for Roman to Early Modern periods, and including the Norman Conquest.

Totally agree, though the one thing I’d note is that acid rain has been a solved problem (in the west) and I believe isn’t the same magnitude of a problem elsewhere as it was in the west in the past. That’s the one bright thing, we are able to legislate our way out of an environmental problem. This gives some hope to legislation in order to curb climate change, although both the problem and solution to climate change is way more complex than acid rain.

Meteorites are sourced from the sky.

That's dirt cheap compared to what it takes to get from embryo to grown-up. It's hard to overpay for equipment that keeps you alive.

The reason the swords were rather short was because the steel was rather shit. To make longer swords you need more sophisticated methods which they didn't have, or you need to put in a lot more elbow grease to work impurities out of the steel making the sword much more expensive. Over centuries the sword making economy shifted to longer and more expensive blades

The US did actually develop an assault style weapon, the M2 Carbine, which was an automatic M1 with a 30 round clip.

It was too late for WW2 beyond some Marines in Okinawa, but in Korea, the US noted pretty much what you said, that inexperienced soldiers tended to panic and blow through their ammunition, while experienced ones proved highly effective in places where short-ranged engagements were likely.

The STG 44 had better range and power, of course, but it's also much heavier, to the point that the M2 might have been preferred if the US was given a choice between the two.

The Romans always used some form of missile weapons in the legions. Pila were used until at least the 3rd century as we see them on graves and other pieces of art work. Then in the late empire they seem to have used javelins similar to the German Angron or small weapons like the plumbata which was like a very large dart of which the legionnaires carried 5 of strapped to their shields.

[removed]

>No it was two Pila, one was lighter and the other was heavier.

But AFAIK history marched on and discarded that the legionary used 2 Pila in battle

[removed]

Here you go!

[deleted]