Sword Sunday #49 - The Greek Xiphos

When you talk about the Greek military, the cornerstone image of the early, pre-roman armies is that of spear-armed, bronze-breastplated soldiers marching in their characteristic block, or Phalanx formations. The image is not altogether wrong,  like nearly every army that existed before the rise of the firearm, the Greeks learned that the pike or spear was the king of the battlefield, able to deflect almost any charge.

That being said, they were not blind to the question of what to do when the blocks of soldiers were broken, or individual troops were caught alone, or when the fight did close to hand-to-hand range. When that did happen, the Greeks had their own answer to the eventuality. 

Modern reconstruction of a Greek xiphos and scabbard.

The Xiphos was one of a handful of swords in history who's existence actually bridged the bronze (3200–600 BCE)   and iron ages (1100–700 BCE) extensively.  The exact age of the weapon is somewhat nebulous, but its association with the ancient Greek militarizes is strong enough to stipulate that it likely was part of the military arsenal from the 8th century BCE to the 1st century BCE. 

The sword itself is a simple, clean blade, with a flat grip and a small hilt. The blade was generally regarded at between 18 to 24 inches long, though Spartans were reported as using a 12" version. It was a 'leaf bladed' design, with the fullest part of the blade about a third of the way down its length, and it was probably equally good at both chopping or thrusting, though both iron and bronze are noted for being bad at holding an edge (bronze, of course more so). The weapon would have been originally been cast, and then shaped by stoning, since bronze can not be hardened. Iron swords however, may have been either cast, or forged, and examples exist to suggest both methods were used.

Its worth noting that the Xiphos is nearly identical in design and construction to the Celtic  

La Tène people. As to which sword came first, of they are event connected, or if both are an example of form following function is still something of a talked about debate among historians. 

His Lordship Ivo Blackhawk
Kingdom of Ansteorra
"Long Live the King!"