A question about broadswords

[Benjamin Parker]

Broadswords are a type of basket hilt saber, but Vegetius in his De Re Miltitari says that roman legionaries called their spathas broadswords call anyone help me?

[Brandon Paul Heslop]

Broadswords are a type of basket hilt saber, but Vegetius in his De Re Miltitari says that roman legionaries called their spathas broadswords call anyone help me?

I think it was the translator who referred to spathas as "broadswords," and not Vegetius himself. Museum curators started calling any broad-bladed sword a "broadsword" during the 19th century, and it subsequently spread throughout academia. I truly doubt that Vegetius would refer to spathas as "broadswords," particularly as they weren't any "broader" than a gladius.

Hope this helps.

-B.

[Benjamin Parker]

Thanks man