- Rhomphaia
The Rhomphaia was a close combat bladed weapon used by the
Thracians as early as 400 B.C. It was a variant of theDacian Falx . Most rhomphaias werepolearm s, featuring a straight or slightly curved single-edgedblade attached to a pole that was considerably longer than the blade. Some rhomphaias had short handles that extended to only the length of the blade. Although the rhomphaia was similar to theFalx , most archaeological evidence suggests that rhomphaias were forged with straight or slightly curved blades, presumably to enable their use as both a thrusting and slashing weapon. The blade itself was constructed of iron and used a triangular cross section to accommodate the single cutting edge with a tang of rectangular cross section. Length varied, but a typical rhomphaia would have a blade of approximately 60-80 cm and a tang of approximately 50 cm. From the length of the tang, it can be presumed that when attached to the hilt, this portion of the weapon would be of similar length to the blade. [citebook|title=The Thracians, 700 BC - AD 46|author=Christopher Webber, Angus McBride|year=2001|publisher=Osprey Publishing|id=ISBN 1841763292]Usage
Used almost exclusively by the
Thracians , examples have been found dating from 300-400 B.C. As a weapon, the rhomphaia was feared (like the Falx) because of the cutting power afforded to it by thepolearm like design. The rhomphaia forced the only documented change in Roman armour brought about by an encounter with a new weapon. After encountering the Falx in Dacia, the Romans added extra reinforcing bars to their helmets to protect against the powerful blows of this weapon.Also the Byzantines used the blade as well, although it most likely was used by a few units of foot soldiers dating somewhere between Byzantium's golden age of ~900-1071, and maybe even earlier. It was not mentioned as a weapon like the falx however, and Osprey Publishing, who wrote their book about the Byzantine army 800-1118, were stumped themselves as to what this weapon was. They assumed correctly that it was falx like, but it also could have been asabre . Now it is revealed that it was indeed a falx-like weapon.Fact|date=February 2007Differences from the falx
The rhomphaia's blade was straight or only slightly curved, while the falx's blade was significantly curved. Because its straighter blade facilitated a thrusting motion and an overhead or sidewards hacking motion, the rhomphaia could be used by tightly packed
troop s as a defensive weapon. However, the straighter blade limited the use of the cutting edge.Rhomphaia in historical texts
Rhomphaia was first ‘a spear’, later ‘a sword’ (
Plutarch : "Life ofAemilius Paulus " 18;Eustathius , onIliad verse VI 166; Hesychius; also Luke 2;35 and theRevelation ofJohn of Patmos , several times.).In Latin, it has the forms:
* rumpia (Livy ,Aulus Gellius , Ascon. ad Mil.)
*romphea (Isidore of Seville .),
*romphaea vel romfea (CGL 7, 212).W. Tomaschek listed the Bulgarian. roféja, rufja ‘a thunderbolt’ and the Albanian rrufë as derivatives of that word.Rhomphaia was also preserved in modern Greek as rhomphaia ‘a big broad sword’. The Thracian rhomphaia contains the IE stem *rump- in the Latin rumpo, -ere ‘to break, to tear’.
ee also
*
Falx References
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