gladius

gladio se a multitudine defendit
he defended himself against the crowd with a sword

gladius , iī, m.: a sword, 9.769, et al.

glădĭus, ĭi, m. (also archaic glă-dĭum, ii, n., Lucil. ap. Non. 208, 13; cf. Varr. L. L. 9, § 81 Müll.; Quint. 1, 5, 16; v. gladiola under gladiolus, I.) [perh. akin to clades, cardo; cf. κλαδάσαι, to brandish], a sword (syn. the poet. ensis, acc. to Quint. 10, 1, 11; cf. also: spatha, acinaces, sica, pugio).

• I Lit.: arripuit gladium, Plaut. Capt. 4, 4, 7 (915); id. Cas. 2, 4, 28 (306): eripite isti gladium, quae sui est impos animi, id. Cas. 3, 5, 9 (629): succincti gladiis media regione cracentes, Enn. ap. Paul. ex Fest. p. 53 Müll. (Ann. v. 497 Vahl.): contecti gladiis, id. ap. Philarg. ad Verg. G. 4, 230 (Ann. v. 415 ib.): occursat ocius gladio comminusque rem gerit Varenus, Caes. B. G. 5, 44, 11: pila miserunt, celeriterque gladios strinxerunt, drew, id. B. C. 3, 93, 1: gladium stringere, Cic. Phil. 2, 9, 21; Verg. A. 12, 278: destringere, Caes. B. G. 1, 25, 2; 7, 12 fin.; id. B. C. 1, 46, 1; 1, 47, 3; Cic. Off. 3, 31, 112; id. Cat. 3, 1, 2; Liv. 27, 13, 9 et saep.: educere, Caes. B. G. 5, 44, 8; Cic. Att. 4, 3, 3; Sall. C. 51, 36; cf.: educere e vagina, Cic. Inv. 2, 4, 14: nudare, Ov. F. 2, 693: recondere in vaginam, Cic. Inv. 2, 4, 14; cf. condere, Quint. 8 praef. § 15: xiphion gladi praebet speciem, Plin. 25, 11, 89, § 138.—
• • • • b Prov.
      • • α Suo sibi hunc gladio jugulo, fight him with his own weapons, Ter. Ad. 958; cf. the same, Cic. Caecin. 29, 82.—
        • β Cum illum (Clodium) plumbeo gladio jugulatum iri tamen diceret (Hortensius), i. e. with very little trouble, Cic. Att. 1, 16, 2. —
        • γ Ignem gladio scrutare, stir the fire with a sword (= πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ σκαλεύειν, Pythag. ap. Diog. Laert. 8, 17), Hor. S. 2, 3, 276.—
        • δ Gladium alicui dare qui se occidat, to give one the means of ruining himself, Plaut. Trin. 1, 2, 92 (130).—
• II Transf.
• • A Murder, death: cum tanta praesertim gladiorum sit impunitas, Cic. Phil. 1, 11, 27; cf. id. Fam. 10, 2, 1; Vell. 2, 3, 3; 2, 125, 2; gladiorum licentia, Cic. Fam. 4, 9 fin.; id. 2, 22, 2: qui universas provincias regunt, jus gladii habent, i. e. the power of life and death, Dig. 1, 18, 6, § 8: potestas gladii, ib. 2, 1, 3; Capitol. Gord. 9.—
  • B A gladiatorial combat: qui cum maxime dubitat, utrum se ad gladium locet an ad cultrum, Sen. Ep. 87 med.: comparare homines ad gladium, Lact. 6, 12 fin.: servus ad gladium vel ad bestias vel in metallum damnatus, Dig. 29, 2, 25.—
  • C Gladius vomeris, a ploughshare, Plin. 18, 18, 48, § 172.—
  • D The sword-fish, also called xiphias (ξιφίας), Plin. 9, 2, 1, § 3; 9, 15, 21, § 54; 32, 11, 53, § 145.

gladius, iī, m.(zu glaber, also ›das glatte‹), das messerförmige Schwert (zu Hieb und Stoß, während ensis das längere, mehr zum Hieb eingerichtete Schwert), I) eig. u. meton.: a) eig.: capulus gladii, Tac.: mucro gladii, Plin.: gladius vaginā vacuus (blankes), Cic.: gl. militaris, Sen.: gladius cruentus, Cic.: gladius cruore domini madens, Val. Max.: gladius, cui ad secandum subtilis acies est, Sen.: gladius, quo noxii iugulantur, Henkerschwert, Val. Max.: gladio accinctus, Liv. u. Tac., succinctus, Cornif. rhet.: gladium stringere, Caes., destringere, Cic.: gladium (e vagina) educere, Cic.: gladium nudare, Ov.: gladium condere, einstecken, Tac.: alqm gladio insequi, Cic.: alci gladium intentare, Liv.: gladio incumbere, Cornif. rhet.: transfigere se gladio, Vell.: traicere sibi gladio pectus, Auct. b. Afr.: traicere alqm gladio, Auct. b. Alex.: transfigere alqm gladio per pectus, Liv. – im Bilde, suo sibi gladio hunc iugulo, mit seinen eigenen Waffen, d.i. widerlege ihn mit seinen eigenen Worten, Ter. adelph. 958 (vgl. quid igitur pugnes adversus eos homines, qui suo sibi gladio pereunt? Lact. 3, 28, 20): plumbeo gladio iugulari, mit schwachen Beweisen widerlegt werden, Cic. ad Att. 1, 16, 2: tuo gladio conficiatur defensio, Cic. Caecin. 82: destrictis gladiis fraudium (mit den scharfen Waffen des Betr.) simplicis puellae paventes cogitationes invadunt, Apul. met. 5, 19. – Sprichw., ignem gladio scrutari (griech. πῦρ μαχαίρα σκαλεύειν), das Feuer mit dem Schwert durchwühlen, von einem unsinnigen Beginnen, Hor. sat. 2, 3, 276. – b) meton. = das mit dem Schwert Bewirkte, wie: gladii potestas od. ius, Gewalt über Leben u. Tod, Capit. u. ICt.: locare ad gladium, zum Gladiatorenkampfe, Sen.: ebenso damnari ad gladium, ICt.: licentia gladiorum, Mordtaten, Cic.: ebenso sublatus modus gladiis, Lucan. – II) übtr.: a) als Titel einer Schrift, das Schwert, Suet. Cal. 49, 3. – b) das Pflugeisen, Plin. 18, 172. – c) das Schwertholz (sonst spatha), dessen man sich bei dem alten senkrechten Webstuhl statt des Kammes bediente, um den Einschlag damit zu schlagen u. das Gewebe dicht zu machen, deducunt habiles gladios filo gracilento, Enn. ann. 253. – d) = ξιφίας, der Schwertfisch, Plin. 9, 3; 32, 15 u. 145. – ➳ Nbf. gladium. iī, n., Lucil. 1187. Varro LL. 5, 116; 8, 45 u. bes. 9, 81. Varro r. r. 1, 48, 3: gladium, ξίφος, gladia, ξίφη, Gloss.; vgl. Quint. 1, 5, 16 (wo getadelt).

gladius [CL] 1 sword; b (fig.; cf. 6b infra); c (used in divination; cf. ensis 2b). illa ‥ ictu ~ii interimitur Aldh. VirgP 52; Bede HE II 13, etc. (v. accingere 2); Ib. III 14 (v. discingere); G. Mon. IX 4 (v. Chalyburnus); s1118 acerrime pugnatum est, haste franguntur omnes, ~iis res agitur H. Hunt. HA VII 31 (cf. Brompton 1007: †glares agitur); non hec [securis] ut ~ius evaginatur Gir. TH III 21; hic ~ius, mucro ‥ espee Gl. AN Ox. 148va; 1395 lego ‥ meliorem equum meum, cum cella, freno, et ~io Test. Ebor. III 1; ensis, swerde, sic ~ius, idem est basselard WW; 1491 (v. glaiva a); 1501 (v. erubiginatio).  b c790 vos [sc. Offa, rex Merciorum] estis ‥ tuba praedicationis, ~ius contra hostes Alcuin Ep. 64; c798 si ~ius est verbum Dei [cf. Luke xxii 36, etc.] Ib. 136; 800 adulator ‥ est ‥ inimicus ~ium melle litum porrigens amico Ib. 209; p1093 ~ii doloris animam meam penetrantis [cf. Luke ii 35] extorserunt confixiones Anselm (Ep. 148) IV 3; ~io patientie H. Los. Ep. 13 (v. accingere 2c); s1097 ~ius Anselmi (v. dividuus b); J. Howd. Ph. 920., etc. (v. evibrare); pro vitanda extinccione Italie et ~io mali Ockham Dial. 724; s1399 dum nonnullos ~io materiali ‥ occidi jussit, ipse [Ricardus II] in fine ~io famis ‥ vitam terminavit V. Ric. II 169; ut ‥ Angliam ‥ verborum ~iis fabrefactis ‥ jugularet G. Hen. V 19.  c W. Cant. Mir. Thom. V 8 (v. character 1b). 2 a (dist. acc. type or use); b (dist. acc. country of origin); c (agricultural). a collocavit Dominus ante Paradisum ‥ cherubin ‥ ut arceret hominem ignito ~io atque versatili, hoc est utrinque secante Gerv. Tilb. I 16; 1301 uno ~io qui vocatur misericord’ SelCKB III civ n; 1401 duo coclearia ‥ unum ~ium pro listis, unum scutum Pat 364 m. 1; ille biceps gladius non scindit forcius illis [sc. cornubus] Gower VC I 227; 1410 (v. bastardus 3d); 1414 modo guerrino arraiati, viz. ~iis manualibus et bimanualibus Proc. J. P. 96.  b 1263 quodam ~io de Colonia fecit ei ‥ plagam in capite CurR 172 r. 12d.; 1281 Johannem cum ~io Colones’ in cerebrum percussit SelCKB I 90; 1288 cum ~io Scotico Ib. III civ n; 1291 ~io de Colonia Ib.; 1320 cum quodam ~io de Colonia extracto ‥ Willelmum ‥ percussit (CoramR) Thoresby Soc. IV 126.  c rusticus ‥ habeat etiam ~ium latum [v. l. frameam; gl.: gleyve, gisarme], spatam sive vangam Neckam Ut. 110. 3 warfare, death by the sword. maledictum esse ~ium et sanguinem prohibentem Gildas EB 69; vel interemtos ~io vel servitio addictos Bede HE IV 26; 793 Europa Gothorum ‥ ~iis evacuata et flammis Alcuin Ep. 20; quocumque exercitum promovebat, igni, ~io, fame, quo majorem incuteret formidinem, nonnulla solo coequabat V. Neot. A 11; inculpati ~ii executione expetere quod Francorum culpabilis et injusta violentia ‥ usurpare ‥ contendit G. Hen. V 2; ~io audaciam hominis compescere Fortescue NLN II 3. 4 (as symbol of knighthood). b (w. ref. to order of the Sword, i. e. of Santiago de Compostela). Herwardus ‥ in memoriam habuit morem sue gentis ~io nec baltheo militari precinctum se non fuisse G. Herw. 328b; hodie tirones enses suos recipiunt de altari ut profiteantur se . ad ‥ patrie liberationem ~ium accepisse P. Blois Ep. 94. 294B; Map NC II 23; Hund. I 514b (v. cingere 1b); 1277 (v. 2 arma 2c); Croyl. 70 (v. collum 1a).  b invaluerunt ad summum robur ‥ in Hispania milites qui a ~io nomen habent Map NC I 30 f. 23. 5 (as symbol of authority, lordship): a (royal); b (of earl or duke); c (of earl of Chester). a quando [rex] ~io cingitur, cantetur hec antiphona ‥ oratio post datum ~ium: ‥ ut omnis hostium suorum fortitudo virtute ~ii spiritualis frangatur Rec. Coronation 19; a1162 (v. famulus 1b); 1236 etc. (v. curtana 1); nec [regina] in branchiis ungitur, ut rex, quia non debet exercere voluntariam potestatem, nec ~ium portare, prout rex facit Fortescue Def. Lanc. 3.  b comitem Nevernensem, cujus ibi ~ius est, adeunt Map NC I 25 f. 21; s1189 [H. de Puiset] a rege ~io comitatus accinctus nomen sibi comitis usurpavit; quo ~io accincto, rex ‥ astantibus dixit: ‘Juvenem feci comitem de episcopo veterano’ M. Par. Maj. II 352; 1190 nisi pro ‥ enormi flagitio quod ad placitum ~ii pertineat (Conc. Rotomag.) Diceto YH 87; s1199 R. Howd. IV 87 (v. 1 ducatus 4a); s1199 die coronationis sue ‥ rex accinxit Willelmum Marescallum ~io comitatus de Striguil, et Gaufridum filium Petri ~io comitatus de Essex; qui licet antea vocati essent comites et administrationem suorum comitatuum habuissent, tamen non erant accincti ~io comitatus; et ‥ illa die servierunt ad mensam regis accincti ~iis Ib. 90; s1227 Hubertus, Anglie justitiarius ~io accinctus est a rege Cantie comitatus Wend. II 320; c1270 alias libertates, exceptis illis que pertinent ad coronatorem et ad ~ium [comitis de Moreton] Couch. Furness I 468; G. Cold. Durh. 9; Ambrosden I 409 (v. comitatus 4a); Bracton 5b, etc. (v. 1 comes 4a); 1385 (v. circulus 4d); 1399 per servicium portandi diebus coronacionis ‥ illum ~ium, quo cincti eramus quando in partibus de Holdernesse applicuimus, vocatum Lancastrie swerd (Pat) Foed. VIII 95; Camd. Br. 134 (v. cinctura a).  c Cestrie provincia ‥ per indulgentias regum atque excellentias comitum magis in cetu populi ~ium principis quam coronam regni consuevit attendere Lucian Chester 65; 1216 (1218) me ‥ ad petitionem baronum meorum Cestreshyrie concessisse eis ‥ quod unusquisque eorum curiam suam habeat liberam de omnibus placitis et querelis in curia mea motis exceptis placitis ad ~ium meum pertinentibus (Ch. R. Com. Cestr.) Cart. Chester 103; a1228 quod pro nullo placito exeant foras de burgo nostro nisi pro placitis ad ~ium meum pertinentibus (Ch. R. Com. Cestr., Frodsham) BBC 121; 1242 cum castro, sigillo, et libertate ~ii EHR XXXV 45; 12‥ anno primo quo Johannes de Scotia cinctus fuit ~io comitatus Cestrie et Cesterscire (Dom. Chesh) Ib. XXXV 29; 1311 Henricus de L. nuper comes Lyncoln’ tenuit de ‥ rege in capite ut de ~io Cestr’ IPM 22/26; 1513 per dignitatem ~ii nostri Cestrie et secundum consuetudinem comitatus ‥ Cestrie (Breve de supersedeas) EHR XXIX 52; Cestrenses comites ‥ hunc agrum primi Normannorum sibi subjecerunt, unde in antiquis membranis legitur: ‘comitatus Flint pertinet ad dignitatem ~ii Cestrie’ Camd. Br. 605. 6 (dist. as materialis, spiritualis, or sim., symbolizing temporal or ecclesiastical power; cf.Luke xxii 38); b (~ius anathematis, excommunicationis, or sim.). et si pro justitia episcopi emendare noluerit, ostendat regi; et rex constringet forisfactorem, ut emendet; ‥ et sic juste ~ius ~ium juvabit (Leg. Ed.) GAS 629; in sacerdotem ‥ ~ium materialem exercere non licet nisi ‥ in ecclesiam Dei cruentam manum extendat J. Sal. Pol. 788D; Willelmus ‥ Eliensis episcopus ‥ ut utraque manu uteretur pro dextra, et ~ius Petri ~io subveniret imperatoris, legationem suscepit totius Anglie Devizes 28 (cf. Ann. Wint. 64: cum ‥ teneret ~ium apostolica auctoritate et regia); s1195 accingantur quibus licet materialem ~ium in persecutores fidei exercere (Lit. Papae) Diceto YH 133; ~ius Petri rubigine obductus est P. Blois Ep. 73. 225B; quis queso vobis dedit civilis ~ii potestatem Id. Ep. sup. 49. 10; adversus ecclesiam Domini ‥ moderna persecutio ‥ efferari conspicitur in duobus ~iis, materiali sc. et spirituali ‥; quid si celestem potentiam ~ii spiritualis solum impugnaret ~ii materialis potentia secularis, que ratio posset esse formidandi? Ad. Marsh Ep. 247 cap. 40 p. 482; rex ‥ habet ‥ jura in manu sua que ad coronam et laicalem pertinent potestatem et materialem ~ium qui pertinet ad regni gubernaculum Bracton 55b; s1292 terram sanctam facile non posse recuperari sine ~iis spirituali et materiali Oxnead 285; cum ‥ ~ius spiritualis et claves ecclesie ~io materiali subjiciantur Conc. Scot. II 29; 1318 ~io spirituali subtracto, temporali per eorum rebellionem ‥ ebetato FormOx 40; ab illo qui habet utrumque ~ium, materialem sc. et spiritualem, est imperium Ockham Pol. I 69; s1381 videntes episcopum [Norw’] militem induisse ‥ necnon ~ium materialem ancipitem arripuisse Wals. HA II 7; conspirans in antris et diverticulis cum suis comitibus, ut prius in utriusque ~ii potestatem G. Hen. V 1.  b 799 non pertinax erroris defensio excommunicationis percutit ~io Alcuin Ep. 166 p. 274; c1106 inoboedientes ~io dignae excommunicationis percussit Anselm (Ep. 374) V 318; 1143 ob ‥ invasionem rerum ecclesiaticarum anathematis ~io percussus Conc. Syn. 802; W. Cant. Mir. Thom. VI 92 (v. effractor 1c); 1261 si qui ‥ contra hoc statutum venire ‥ presumpserint, sciant se ‥ excommunicationis esse sententia involutos et contra eos ‥ ecclesiastice censure ~ium exercendum Conc. Syn. 682. 7 swordfish. quemque vocant glad[i]um, quia rostro ledit acuto / sepius hunc nantem metuunt accedere navi V. Merl. 840; de xiphia seu ~io [pisce] Caius Anim. 23b. 8 (?) fleur-de-lis. Cf. gladiolus 3. 1331 casula, tunica, et dalmatica de inde samitto brudato aureis floribus gladue. item tunica j de inde in parte brudato aureis floribus gladue (DC Cant. Lit. E. 27 pt. 4 f. lv) Arch. J. LIII 264; item due cape ‥ brudate aureis floribus gladue (Ib. f. 2) Ib.; 1402 casula de rubeo pulverizata cum ~iis et floribus Invent. S. Paul. 501.

glădĭus, (8) ĭī, m. , ¶ 1 épée, glaive [pr. et fig.] : gladium destringere Cic. Off. 3, 112 ; stringere Cæs. C. 3, 93, 2 ; educere Cæs. G. 5, 44, 8, dégainer, mettre lʼépée à la main ; aut tuo, quemadmodum dicitur, gladio aut nostro defensio tua conficiatur necesse est Cic. Cæc. 82, il faut de toute nécessité que dans ta défense tu sois battu ou par tes propres armes, comme on dit, ou par les miennes ; plumbeo gladio jugulare Cic. Att. 1, 16, 2, tuer avec un sabre de plomb [inoffensif] [prov.] ; gladiorum impunitas Cic. Phil. 1, 27, impunité des meurtres ¶ 2 métier de gladiateur : se ad gladium locare Sen. Ep. 87, 8, se louer pour être gladiateur ¶ 3 coutre [de la charrue] : Plin. 18, 172 ¶ 4 espadon [poisson de mer] : Plin. 9, 3.

➳ gladium, n. , Lucil. d. Non. 208, 13 ; Varro L. 9, 81 ; Quint. 1, 5, 16.

gladius , ii. m.
腰刀。水虎魚。Suo gladio jugulari 自喪自己。Jugulari gladio plumbeo 易被辩駁。鉛刀可斷者。

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gladius ī, m

• a sword: vaginā vacuus, drawn: gladiis res geritur, S.: gladios strinxerunt, drew, Cs.: gladiis destrictis, Cs.: gladium e vaginā eduxit: Nudare gladios, O.: cum gladiis sequi consulem: Proxuma quaeque metit gladio, V.: gladiorum impunitas, i. e. of murder: magna est gladiorum licentia.—Provv.: Suo sibi gladio hunc iugulo, hoist with his own petar, T.: plumbeo gladio iugulatus, i. e. easily refuted.

GLADIUS

GLA´DIUS(ξίφος, poet. ἄορ, φάσγανον), a sword or glaive, by the Latin poets called ensis.

The oldest Greek swords were of course of bronze, the one allusion to an iron sword in Homer (Hom. Il. 18.34) being regarded as an interpolation; later they were mostly of iron, though the older metal did not entirely go out of use. Bronze swords of a pre-historic age have been found at Mycenae (Schliemann, Mycenae, pp. 283, 304, &c.); some of these have hilts inlaid with gold; they are long and thin in the blade, and resemble the long light swords invented by Iphicrates for his peltasts; they run to 88 centimetres in length, whereas the longest Greek swords now preserved in collections vary between a minimum of 34 and a maximum of 75 centimetres (about 13 and 30 inches respectively). The ancient swords in the British Museum all, without exception, look much shorter than the regulation sword of the British army at the present day. The Homeric sword was cut-and-thrust, with a straight two-edged blade (ἄμφηκες, Hom. Il. 10.256), rather long and tapering very slightly towards the point. The σπάθη, used in early times (Alcae. fr. 15), must have had a broad blade, as the name implies, and, according to Droysen, was a cutting sword with blunt point; the word is philologically interesting as having, through the Latin spathu, superseded every other word for a sword in the Romance languages (Fr. épée, It. spada, Sp. espada). The hilt of most of the ancient swords is protected by a cross-bar, though sometimes by a very slight one (see cut), and is usually of one piece with the blade; but the ornamented hilts, which are sometimes very tasteful, are of wood inlaid with gold or silver. The scabbard (κολεός, Hom. κουλεόν, Lat. vagina) was either of metal or of leather with metal mountings. The type of the primitive Greek sword does not seem to have greatly altered until the 4th century B.C., when Iphicrates, among his other improvements in arms and armour, greatly increased, or, according to Diodorus (Diod. 15.44), doubled the length of the blade for his peltasts or light infantry, while the hoplites retained the shorter sword of earlier times: the sword thus lengthened does not, however, appear to have exceeded 78 centimetres, or about 31 inches for the blade exclusive of the hilt. The Greeks hung the sword on the left side by a belt passing over the right shoulder, and drew it with the right hand across the body; hence the ACINACESof the Persians, worn on the right side, was noticed by them as exceptional. For the μάχαιρα or dagger, sometimes scarcely distinguished from the ξίφος, see also PUGIO(Droysen, Kriegsalterth. in Hermann-Blümner, p. 15 f.; Guhl and Koner, ed. 5, p. 319 f.) The ῥομφαία, rhomphaea or rumpia, was a Thracian sword of great length. (L. and S. s. v.; Val. Flacc.; Gell. 10.25; Claudian, Epigr. 22 (27).) In Livy (Liv. 31.39) it has been taken for a spear: but the consistent usage of the Greek writers proves this to be a mistake.

Of the sword used by the Romans before the Second Punic War little is known, and of course nothing from monuments; they then, according to a notice in Suidas (s. v. μάχαιρα) which apparently comes from Polybius, discarded the native pattern (τὰς πατρίους ἀποθέμενοι μαχαίρας in favour of the Spanish, though (he adds) they could not equal the Spanish workmanship and fineness of the iron. They had learnt, it seems, to appreciate the superiority of the Spanish sword over the Gallic when both were employed against them at the battle of Cannae: Livy describes the two ( Gallis Hispanisque scuta ejusdem formae fere erant, dispares ac dissimiles gladii: Gallis praelongi ac sine mucronibus, Hispano, punctim magis quam caesim assueto petere hostem, brevitate habiles et cum mucronibus, 22.46). It has been inferred that the Romans had themselves used the Gallic sword hitherto (Guhl and Koner, p. 776); but in the combat of Torquatus and the Gaul, a century and a half earlier, the Gallic broadsword, so large as to be unwieldy, is already contrasted with the short thrust sword of the Roman (Liv. 7.10; Claud. Quadrig. ap. Gell. 9.13). The anachronism of these writers, pointed out by Marquardt, consists only in applying the word Spanish to the Roman sword then in use; we agree with Rich (s. v. Gladius) that the early Roman sword in all probability did not differ much from the contemporary Greek. The Spanish type now introduced was, therefore, larger and heavier than that previously in use, yet still handy, as Livy tells us in the words quoted above. In the Macedonian war the greater size and weight of the Roman sword struck terror into the Greeks (Florus (Flor. 2.7== 1.23 Jeep). The Romans ever afterwards used the point of their cut-and-thrust sword much more than the edge: Vegetius remarks (1.12) that the blow of the latter was easily parried by the defensive armour, while with the former (in this resembling the modern bayonet) two inches of cold steel often inflicted a fatal wound. That the Roman sword could not have been short is implied in the joke of Cicero upon Lentulus (i. e. Dolabella), a man of very low stature, Who tied my son-in-law to his sword? (Macrob. Sat. 2.3.3.) The British glaive was still larger than the Roman, and sine mucrone (Tac. Agric. 36); it may thus have been identical, or nearly so, with the old Gallic broadsword. From time immemorial, as in the East down to the present day, gold and jewels have been freely lavished upon the adornment of hilts [CAPULUS] and scabbards. Either will suit the stellatus ïaspide fulva Ensis of Aeneas (Verg. A. 4.261); but Juvenal interprets it of the sheath (5.44). The golden acinaces of Mardonius was a trophy at Athens (Dem. c. Timocr. p. 741.129; Paus. 1.27.1). The Gauls adorned their swords with pearls (Plin. Nat.32.23), probably not Oriental but British pearls from their own seas (id. 12.116).

The Romans, at least from the time that they adopted the Spanish sword, wore it as a general rule on the right side; the dagger, when carried, hung on the left by a separate belt. Polybius--who, it is noteworthy, throughout his description

1. Monument of an Illyrian soldier, found at Bingen.2. Scabbard (Mainz) and swords (various parts of Germany).

of the Roman arms and armour (6.22, 23) uses only the word μάχαιρα, not ξίφος ---says expressly (23.6), ταύτην δὲ περὶ τὸν δεξιὸν φέρει μηρόν, καλοῦσι δ'αὐτὴν Ἰβηρικήν: and mentions no dagger as worn on the other side. The columns of Trajan and Antoninus, and the Roman monuments in Germany collected by Lindenschmidt (Alterth. unserer heidnischen Vorzeit), show the sword to the right, and the dagger (which may have been introduced after the time of Polybius) to the left, alike in the case of legionaries, auxiliaries, and cavalry. Curiously enough, Josephus reverses this arrangement (καὶ μαχαιροφοροῦντες ἀμφοτέρωθεν: μακρότερον δὲ αὐτῶν τὸ λαιὸν ξίφος πολλῷ, τὸ γὰρ κατὰ δεξιὸν σπιθαμῆς οὐ πλέον ἔχει μῆκος, B. J. 3.5.5): as do also some exceptional cases on the monuments; a signifer cohortis V. Asturum(Lindenschmidt, pt. xi. pl. 6); an eques of a praetorian cohort (Fabretti, Col. Traj. p. 226). The problem has been satisfactorily solved by Rich (s. vv. Gladius and Cinctorium), who figures a sword to the left from a bas-relief in the Capitol: the common soldiers wear their swords in the manner described by Polybius, on the right side, suspended by a shoulder-band [BALTEUS]; the officers wear their swords on the left, attached to a belt round the waist; and the swords of the cavalry are longer than those of the infantry. (Cf. Marquardt, Staatsverw. 2.327 f.; Guhl and Koner, ed. 5, p. 775 ff.)

[W.W]

Gladius

(ξίφος; poet. ἄορ, φάσγανον). A sword, by the Latin poets called ensis. The ancient sword had generally a straight, two-edged blade (ἄμφηκες), rather broad, and of nearly equal width from hilt to point. Gladiators, however, used a sword which was curved like a scimitar. In times of the remotest antiquity swords were made of bronze, but afterwards of iron. The Greeks and Romans wore them on the left side, so as to draw them out of the sheath (κόλεος, vagina) by passing the right hand in front of the body to take hold of the hilt with the thumb next to the blade. Hence Aeschylus distinguishes the army of Xerxes by the denomination of μαχαιροφόρον ἔθνος, alluding to the obvious difference in their appearance in consequence of the use of the acinaces instead of the sword. See acinaces.

The early Greeks used a very short sword. Iphicrates, who made various improvements in armour about B.C. 400, doubled its length, so that an iron sword found in a tomb at Athens, and represented by Dodwell, was two feet five inches long, including the handle, which was also of iron. The Roman sword, as was the case also with their other offensive weapons, was larger, heavier, and more formidable than the Greek. Its length gave occasion to the joke of Lentulus upon his son-in-law, who was of very low stature, “Who tied my sonin-law to his sword?” To this Roman sword the Greeks applied the term σπάθη, which was the name of a piece of wood of the same form used in weaving. (See tela.) The ancient British sword was still larger than the Roman. The principal ornamentation of the sword was bestowed upon the hilt. See capulus.

Gladius is sometimes used in a wide sense, so as to include pugio (q. v.). In the republican period of Rome, the gladius was worn by magistrates only when exercising military command. Under the Empire it was one of the insignia of the emperor and of those nominated by him. The ius gladii is the right of criminal jurisdiction conferred by the emperor on provincial governors. See arma; machaera; mucro.