History Store: Museum Replicas, History Gifts, Replica Guns, Replica Swords

Our museum quality historic replica swords feature high carbon steel blades with full tangs and are perfect for the historical reenactor or sword collector looking for a real sword faithful to the historical originals they replicate. These museum quality swords are manufactured by Windlass Steelcrafts, Deepeeka and CAS Hanwei.

Our collector quality replica swords are made of stainless steel and are suitable for display and for threatrical props. Our collector swords are manufactured by Denix.

The Ancient Greek warrior, typified by the Spartan warrior, was a formidable presence on the battlefield. The sword he used with blades designed for both cutting and thrusting was of a heavy carbon-steel single-edged blade.

Swords were not the primary weapon for the Greek soldier, but drawn only once a hoplite's spear had been employed in the intitial stages of battle. The early sword used by the hoplite was designed to maximize impact with a downward cut of the heavy single-edged blade. The sword would have been worn slung horizontally from a baldric over the right shoulder.

A popular hoplite sword was called the xiphos, about one foot long with a straight double-edged iron blade that allowed maximum maneuverability. This was thought to be preferred by the Spartan soldier. Another sword was called the kopis, about 3 feet in length with a curved blade capable of causing considerable damage to the opponent. The Greek infantryman would have preferred the straight blade of the xiphos, while the cavalry officer would have found the kopis effective when battling the opponent's infantry. The makhaira, a curved sword- though with a backward curve-, was also preferred by the cavalry.

The hilt of the sword would have been constructed with the tang sandwiched between wood, with thin bronze or iron metal plates on top, and two nails placed on the center line. The grip would have been swecured with smaller nails aside the tang. but on the grip he had to use pairs of small nails that straddled the narrow tang.

The famous "Gladius Hispanicus" was developed from the design of a Spanish short sword that the Romans encountered in their conquests in Hispania. The gladius, meaning 'sword' in Latin, was of a manageable size and effectiveness that made it a favorite weapon of the Roman military machine and the most basic equipment for the legionnaire during the 2nd century B.C. Prior to this era of the Roman military, when the military finally incorporated common citizens into the formerly elitist service, there was little regulation in how soldiers were outfitted for war.

The gladius in the 2nd century became standard weaponry for the legions. With a severe tip and sharpened double-edged blade, the gladius was primarily a stabbing weapon but performed successfully as a slicing tool as well and its design was such that handling was optimal. The Roman soldier formed part of an efficient military machine, wielding his gladius in his right hand in tandem with the Roman scutum, or shield, which he held with his left arm.

The most well known designs of gladii are the Mainz, Fulham, and Pompeii. The gladius' basic construction is of a steel blade with a central ridge, lodged in a hilt made of natural materials such as wood. The gladius was a fairly short sword, typically between 18 and 20 inches in length and designed for ease of handling. The design of the Mainz was characterized by a rounded upper guard and a hemispherical lower guard and both the upper and the lower guards were frequently incised with patterns along the circumference. The Fulham's design was more angular, the upper and lower guards characterized by a middle axis and the blade was slightly longer than the Mainz.

The Pompeii was the later model of the gladius and the shorter of the three versions as well as the one of most simple design. The Pompeii gladius of the later empire had a shorter point and its more standard design made it easier to produce, an important aspect since as Rome expanded its empire and the need to arm more troops became more costly a sword of less demanding production costs would be favorable. The center of the sword could be composed of low carbon steel centers with rich carbon steel edges and the blade base would extend through the grip and held into place with rivets at the guards.