Short Sword and Buckler

[Brian Benvie]

I've noticed that most of the material I am aware of, on sword and buckler, covers only a single sword.
What about short swords? I am thinking, here, of something like a Roman short sword.
Are there any historical examples of this kind of system, either Renaissance, Medieval, or Ancient?
If not, what are the best sources to "borrow" from, of the available material?

[scott adair]

Brian,

I have seen references to short sword and buckler use in an Osprey book on Spanish and Iberian Celts. I do not have the book but remember that the Roman gladius is thought to have been influenced by the spanish short sword. There are archeolgical examples of small bucklers called Caetra; as well as a passage I recall about a particular group favoring the use of the caetra and falcata, which is essentially a large kukri. Another brief reference is from Ancient Warfare by John Warry, and mentions that spanish infantry durring the Carthaginian wars were generally armed with a short sword and javelin or spear and carried a scutum or buckler.

Happy hunting,

Scott Adair

[scott adair]

Correction to my previous post:

The book written by John Warry is Warfare in the Classical World.

[Alex Kurtzman]

The kukuri like short sword is called a falcata (Celt-Iberians) or Kopis (Greeks), and was primarily a cutting weapon. From what I have heard about short sword use, it was a stabbing weapon, and a favorite roman target was the face. The military used the larger scutum, which they used as a weapon as well (the shield having a rather generous boss) in a rather similar meathod as that of the Zulus of Shaka, I believe.