Category:Weapon Users:Spatha

These are characters who wield a spatha in combat.

The spatha was a type of straight and long sword, measuring between 0.75 and 1 m (30 and 39 in), in use in the territory of the Roman Empire during the 1st to 6th centuries AD. Later swords from the 7th to 10th centuries, like the Viking swords, are recognizable derivatives, and sometimes subsumed under the term spatha.

The Roman spatha was used in war and in gladiatorial fights. The spatha of literature appears in the Roman Empire in the first century AD as a weapon used by presumably Germanic auxiliaries and gradually became a standard heavy infantry weapon, relegating the gladius to use as a light infantry weapon. The spatha apparently replaced the gladius in the front ranks, giving the infantry more reach when thrusting. While the infantry version had a long point, versions carried by the cavalry had a rounded tip that prevented accidental stabbing of the cavalryman's foot.