Hand made museum quality Roman Spatha
Designed by John Barnett
Originally the spatha was used by the Roman cavalry and as horsemen were regularly recruited from Gallic tribes, the sword owes its origin to the Celts who, when recruited were issued with chain mail shirts, oval shields, helmets and swords of their own native style.
Early spatha are depicted on tombstones with hilts and scabbards very close to legionary types. It is likely that the auxiliary cavalry units copied legionary fashions making these swords essentially a hybrid between Celtic and Roman weapon design.
The spatha began to replace the shorter gladius sword as the primary Roman sword from about A.D.100 onwards. The Romans continued to use their spatha right up until the decline of the Roman Empire .
All swords in the John Barnett collection have EN45 sprung steel blades and guard and pommel pieces are always in steel unless brass or bronze are specified,hand grips are of oak wood over very broad strong tangs
The John Barnett collection are all museum quality pieces with their own distinct look and feel.
The Spatha sword measures approx 37" (940mm) in its scabbard
The blade measures 25 1/4"(642mm)
The hilt measures approx 8 1/2" (216mm)
The spatha sword weighs approx 1.55kg
