The falcata is a type of

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

typical of pre-

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. The falcata was used to great effect for warfare in the ancient Iberian peninsula, and is firmly associated with the southern Iberian tribes, among other ancient peoples of Hispania. It was highly prized by the ancient general

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

, who equipped Carthaginian troops with it during the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

Name

It is unknown which name ancient Iberians gave to the weapon. ''Falcata'' is neither a native name nor one used in classical sources, but a 19th century term coined by

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

Fernando Fulgosio to describe the shape of its blade. The term derivates from Latin ''falcatus'', meaning literally "

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

-shaped".Luis Silva, ''Viriathus and the Lusitanian Resistance to Rome 155-139 BC'', 2013 Classical vocabulary did have a sword named ''ensis falcatus'', but it was apparently meant to be either a

falx The ''falx'' was a weapon with a curved blade that was sharp on the inside edge used by the Thracians and Dacians. The name was later applied to a siege hook used by the Romans. Etymology ''Falx'' is a Latin word originally meaning 'sickle' b ...

or a

harpe The ''harpē'' () was a type of sword or sickle; a sword with a sickle protrusion along one edge near the tip of the blade. The harpe is mentioned in Greek and Roman sources, and almost always in mythological contexts. Harpe in mythology Th ...

. In any case, the name caught on very quickly and is now firmly entrenched in the scholarly literature.

Shape

The falcata has a single-edged blade that pitches forward towards the point, the edge being concave near the hilt, but convex near the point. This shape distributes the weight in such a way that the falcata is capable of delivering a blow with the momentum of an axe, while maintaining the longer cutting edge of a sword and some facility to execute a thrust. The grip is typically hook-shaped, the end often stylized in the shape of a horse or a bird. There is often a thin chain connecting the hooked butt of the Iberian with the hilt. The falcata is distinguished from its Greek counterpart, the

kopis The term kopis ( grc, Κόπις) in Ancient Greece could describe a heavy knife with a forward-curving blade, primarily used as a tool for cutting meat, for ritual slaughter and animal sacrifice, or refer to a single edged cutting or "cut and ...

, by the fact that its blade is double-edged for about half its length.

Origin

The falcata was derived from the sickle-shaped knives of the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

; that too explains their ritual uses. It is thought to have been introduced in the Iberian Peninsula by the

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

s who introduced iron working there. There are several historians who believe that its origin is parallel to the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and is not derived from it. Meanwhile, others believe the design was carried over from Greece via merchants and traders.''Warfare in the Classical World'', John Warry, 1995

Quality and manufacture

Roman armies in the

and later, during the

Conquest of Hispania The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was a process by which the Roman Republic seized territories in the Iberian Peninsula that were previously under the control of native Celtic, Iberian, Celtiberian and Aquitanian tribes and the Car ...

, were surprised by the quality of the weapons used by Iberian

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

and warriors. The overall quality of the falcata came not only from the shape, but also from the quality of the iron. It is said that

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

plates were buried in the ground for two to three years, corroding the weaker steel from them, but this is technically nonsensical as the higher carbon content of the 'better' steel makes it more vulnerable to chemical corrosion. The technique of joining layers of steel in a fire-welding process in a forge was a standard procedure.

Ornamental and liturgical uses

In the early times of the tribes in

, its use was more ornamental and

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

than military. Highly decorated falcata have been found in tombs, for example the Falcata de Almedinilla. The scarcity of the falcata during early times was due to the expense and scarcity of iron in the region.

In ancient texts

Since "falcata" is not a term used in

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later periods ...

, it is difficult to tell when, or even if, it is being referred to in ancient literature. There is, however, one passage that is generally agreed to refer to this type of sword, in Seneca's ''De Beneficiis'' 5.24:

A veteran who had been a bit too rough with his neighbors was pleading his case before Julius Caesar. "Do you remember," he said, "
Imperator The Latin word ''imperator'' derives from the stem of the verb la, imperare, label=none, meaning 'to order, to command'. It was originally employed as a title roughly equivalent to ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part o ...
, how you twisted your ankle near Sucro?" When Caesar said he did remember: "Then you certainly remember that when you were lying to rest under a tree that was casting just a tiny shadow, in a very tough terrain with just that one lonely tree sticking out, one of your men laid out his cloak for you?" Caesar said "Why shouldn't I remember, even if I was exhausted? Because I was unable to walk I couldn't go to the nearby spring, and I would have been willing to crawl there on hands and knees, if it were not for a good soldier, a brave industrious chap, hadn't brought me water in his helmet?" to which the man replied, "Then, Imperator, you could recognize that man, or that helmet?" Caesar answered that he couldn't recognize the helmet, but certainly the man, and added, a bit irritated I think, "And you certainly are not him!" "It's not surprising," said the man, "that you do not recognize me, Caesar; for when that happened I was whole. Afterwards, at Munda my eye was gouged out, and my skull smashed in. Nor would you recognize that helmet if you saw it: it was split by a Hispanian sword (''machaera Hispana'')."

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

also calls Iberian swords ''machaera'', possibly referring to the falcata given its similarities to the Greek

makhaira The makhaira is a type of Ancient Greek bladed weapon, generally a large knife or sword with a single cutting edge. Terminology The Greek word μάχαιρα (''mákhaira'', plural ''mákhairai''), also transliterated ''machaira'' or ''mac ...

. However, he also employs this name for the straight swords used by the

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

s and even the Romans themselves. The additional fact that other tribes from Hispania also used straight swords, which were later to inspire the Roman

gladius ''Gladius'' () is a Latin word meaning "sword" (of any type), but in its narrow sense it refers to the sword of ancient Roman foot soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those of the Greeks, called '' xiphe'' (plural; singular ''xi ...

, obscures the differentiation of their respective names.F. Quesada Sanz
Gladius hispaniensis: an archaeological view from Iberia
, 1997

Notes

Bibliography

* Aranegui, C. y De Hoz, J. (1992): “Una falcata decorada con inscripción ibérica. Juegos gladiatorios y venationes”, en Homenaje Enrique Pla Ballester, Trabajos Varios del SIP 89, 319-344 * Cuadrado Díaz, E. (1989): La panoplia ibérica de “El Cigarralejo” (Mula, Murcia). Documentos. Serie Arqueología. Murcia * Nieto, G. y Escalera, A. (1970): “Estudio y tratamiento de una falcata de Almedinilla”, Informes y trabajos del Instituto de Restauración y Conservación, 10
F. Quesada Sanz: "''Máchaira'', ''kopís'', falcata" in ''Homenaje a Francisco Torrent'', Madrid, 1994, pp. 75-94

Quesada Sanz, F. (1991): “En torno al origen y procedencia de la falcata ibérica”. In J. Remesal, O.Musso (eds.),'' La presencia de material etrusco en la Península Ibérica'', Barcelona
* Quesada Sanz, F. (1990b): “Falcatas ibéricas con damasquinados en plata”. Homenaje a D. Emeterio Cuadrado, Verdolay, 2, 45-59 * Quesada Sanz, F. (1992a): Arma y símbolo: la falcata ibérica. Instituto de Cultura Juan Gil-Albert, Alicante * Quesada Sanz, F. (1992b): “Notas sobre el armamento ibérico de Almedinilla”, Anales de Arqueología Cordobesa, 3, 113-136 * Quesada Sanz, F. (1997a): “Algo más que un tipo de espada: la falcata ibérica”. Catálogo de la Exposición: La guerra en la Antigüedad. Madrid, pp. 196–205 * Quesada Sanz, F. (1997b): El armamento ibérico. Estudio tipológico, geográfico, funcional, social y simbólico de las armas en la Cultura Ibérica (siglos VI-I a.C.). 2 vols. Monographies Instrumentum, 3. Ed. Monique Mergoil, Montagnac, 1997 * Quesada Sanz, F. (1998): “Armas para los muertos”. Los íberos, príncipes de Occidente Catálogo de la Exposición. Barcelona, pp. 125–31

External links

Iberian weapons and warfare
(in Spanish), at the

Autonomous University of Madrid The Autonomous University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; UAM), commonly known as simply la Autónoma, is a Spanish public university located in Madrid, Spain. The university was founded in 1968 alongside the Autonomous Universi ...

's website.
A 4th century BC falcata from Iberia

Spanish site about celtiberian pre-roman history

{{Swords by region Ancient European swords Iberian weapons Single-edged swords ru:Фалката