Spatha The spatha was a type of straight and long sword , measuring between , in use throughout first millennium AD Europe , and in the territory of the Roman Empire until about 600 AD . Later swords from 600 AD to 1000 AD , like the viking sword s , are recognizable derivatives , though they are not truly spathae . The spatha was used in war and in gladiator ial fights . The spatha of literature appears in the Roman Empire in the first century AD as a weapon used by presumably Germanic auxiliaries and gradually became a standard heavy infantry weapon , relegating the gladius to use as a light infantry weapon . The spatha apparently replaced the gladius in the front ranks , giving the infantry more reach when thrusting . While the infantry version had a long point , versions carried by the cavalry had a rounded tip that prevented accidental stabbing of the cavalryman ' s foot . Archaeologically many instances of the spatha have been found in Britain and Germany . It was used extensively by Germanic warriors . It is unclear whether it came from the Pompeii gladius or the longer Celtic swords , or whether it served as a model for the various broadsword s and Viking sword s of Europe . The spatha remained popular throughout the Migration Period . It may have evolved into the knightly sword of the High Middle Ages from about 1100 AD , but the large number of sword types that appeared during the period make it difficult to establish links . The details of their manufacture remain mostly unknown . Etymology . The word comes from the Latin " spatha " , which derives from Greek " " ( " spáthē " ) , meaning " any broad blade , of wood or metal " but also " broad blade of a sword " . The Greek word was used in the middle Archaic period for various types of Iron Age sword s . The word does not appear in Homeric Greek , but it is mentioned in the works of Alcaeus of Mytilene ( sixth century BC ) and Theophrastus ( fourth century BC ) . It is likely that " spatha " is the romanization of the Doric Greek " * σπάθα " ( " spáthā " ) , considering the Doric acc . plural " σπάθας " ( " spáthās " ) . The word survives in Modern Greek as and . The Latin word became the French " épée " , Catalan espasa , Portuguese and Spanish " espada " , Italian " spada " , Romanian " spadă " and Albanian " shpata " , all meaning " sword " . The English word " spatula " comes from Latin " spat ( h ) ula " , the diminutive of " spatha " . English spade , from Old English " spadu " or " spædu " , is the Germanic cognate , derived from a Common Germanic " * spadō " , ultimately from a Proto - Indo - European stem " * sph - dh - " . Roman Empire . The spatha was introduced to the Roman army in the early imperial period by Celtic cavalry auxiliaries who continued to wear their Celtic long swords , with blade lengths of 60 to 85 cm , in Roman service . The earlier gladius sword was gradually replaced by the spatha from the late second to the third century AD . From the early 3rd century AD , legionaries and cavalrymen began to wear their swords on the left side , perhaps because the " scutum " had been abandoned and the spatha had replaced the gladius . In the imperial period , the Romans adopted the original Greek term , " spathe " ( σπάθη ) , as " spatha " , which still carried the general meaning of any object considered long and flat . " Spatha " appears first in Pliny and then Seneca with different meanings : a spatula , a metal - working implement , a palm - leaf and so on . There is no hint of any native Roman sword called a spatha . Referring to an actual sword , the term first appears in the pages of Tacitus with reference to an incident of the early empire . The British king Caractacus , having rebelled , found himself trapped on a rocky hill , so that if he turned one way he encountered the gladii of the legionaries , and if the other , the spathae of the auxiliaries . Left with no other way to turn , he escaped to the Brigantes , leaving his brothers to surrender the men . He was turned over to the Romans by the queen of the Brigantes , who was pardoned by the Senate after a moving plea for mercy , and reigned successfully once more as a Roman client king . Tacitus does not relate who the auxiliaries were . The Romans moved auxiliaries around the frontiers and also relied on local levies . Most examples of spathae come from Germany and east Europe , however . There is an excellent chance that the owners of the spathae were Germanic . There is no indication in Tacitus either that they were cavalry ; overall , the Romans used both cavalry and infantry . When the spathae next appeared , after a mysterious lacuna of about two centuries , they became the standard weapon of heavy infantry . The Romans could have borrowed this weapon from the auxiliaries , probably Germanic mercenaries , but the name does not support this origin . Spatha was certainly not a Germanic name , nor is there any indication anywhere what its Germanic name was . There are a plenitude of Germanic names , such as Old English " sweord " , " bill " , and so on , but no evidence to tie any name to the spatha , which was never used in Germanic languages as the name of a sword . Roman Iron Age . The Roman Iron Age refers approximately to the time of the Roman Empire in north Europe , which was outside the jurisdiction of the empire , but , judging from the imported Roman artifacts , was influenced by Roman civilization . One source of artifacts from this period are the bogs of Schleswig , Holstein and Denmark . Objects were deliberately broken and thrown into the bog so that they could go with a deceased chief on his voyage to a better place . A cache of 90 swords was found at Nydam Mose in Denmark in 1858 . They were in the form of the spatha and therefore have been classified as " Roman swords " . They are dated between 200 AD – 400 AD . Many connect the Nydam cache with the sword of Beowulf , who was supposed to be a contemporary . Migration period . Surviving examples of these Germanic Iron Age swords had blades measuring between in length and in width . These single handed weapons of war sported a tang only some long and had very little taper in their blades . They usually ended in a rounded tip . Viking Age . Perhaps the most distant recognizable cousins to the spatha were the Viking Age blades . These swords took on a much more acute distal taper and point . These blades had deep fullers running their length , yet still had single - handed hilt s which sported a unique shaped pommel , flat at the grip side and roughly triangular early on , with the flat curving to fit the hand later . While the pattern of hilt and blade design of this type might readily be called " the Viking sword " , to do so would be to neglect the widespread popularity it enjoyed . All over continental Europe between 700 AD and 1000 AD , this design and its variations could be found . Many of the best blades were of Frankish origin , hilted in local centres . These blades had significantly better balance . Many Saxon - era blades were largely ceremonial , due to the low grade of iron and the tip - heavy balance . Viking - era blades were refined weapons . During Norman times the blades increased some in overall length , and the hilt changed significantly . Instead of the Brazil - nut pommel , a thick disc - shaped pommel was attached " on - edge " to the bottom of the iron hilt . In addition the upper guard grew substantially from the near - absent design predating it . Also the blades tended to taper slightly less than those found in the time of the Vikings . Due to the combined Greek and Roman tradition of its military , or perhaps through the Varangian Guard ' s presence in Constantinople , the spatha had a place within the Byzantine Empire and its army . In the Byzantine court , " spatharios " ( σπαθάριος ) , or " bearer of the spatha " , was a mid - level court title . Other variants deriving from it were " protospatharios " , " spatharokandidatos " and " spatharokoubikoularios " , the latter reserved for eunuchs . One of the more famous " spatharokandidatoi " was Harald Hardrada . Jan Petersen in " De Norske Vikingsverd " ( " The Norwegian Viking Swords " , 1919 ) introduced the most widely used classification of swords of the Viking Age , discriminating twenty - six types labelled A – Z . In 1927 R . E . M . Wheeler condensed Petersen ' s typology into a simplified typology of nine groups , numbered I – IX . Norman swords . The transition from the Viking age spatha to the High Medieval arming sword took place between the 10th and 11th centuries . The main development was the growth of the front handguard into a full cross - guard , and the reduction of the typical Viking - era lobated pommel into simpler hazelnut or disc shapes . The sword of Otto I preserved in Essen is such an example of the emerging arming sword , although it has been encrusted with decorations during the centuries it was conserved as a relic ( total length 95 . 5 cm ) .