Pompeii Gladius - Museum Replicas

Reason for purchase

After a lot of thought I decided to buy the Pompeii style gladius from Museum Replicas. I posted a couple of questions on the Sword Forum message board enquiring about Museum Replica equipment. The replies where not favourable at all, but after a little pulling about I got to the bottom of the two poor reviews, one was due to mistreatment and the other I think (and hope) was just plain unfortunate. After some further advice on the Sword Forum I came to the conclusion that the Museum Replicas weapon would be sufficient for my needs. Our theatrical fight instructor uses their weapons in his group and having seen them they seemed what we required at a price I would not be too concerned about bashing my new weapon against another.

Delivery

Museum Replicas state that international orders will arrive within 2-4 weeks of order. The weapons arrived within the promised time after just three weeks. In the UK I was stung for import tax and VAT which added £60 to the cost of the two gladii I had ordered. They arrived in good shape, with no damage to either the packaging or the weapons. The weapons themselves came in a cardboard box each, which were themselves encased in bubble wrap, brown paper and a second rigid cardboard box. No rust was found on either weapon and both looked to be ok upon first glance.

Initial Thoughts

Although there are doubtless better versions of the Pompeii pattern gladius available for purchase on the market, the weapons looked to be in good shape. I was disappointed thought to discover that the blade was stamped with the word 'India' on the hilt end in letters about 6mm high, I will be posting a letter to Museum Replicas asking about this because the weapons are sold as Museum Replicas and I doubt very much the Roman Army bought its weapons wholesale with the 'India' stamp on them, I will post any replies I get back. All being said though when the weapon is in use I do not believe that the words will be seen by anyone without a fast camera and a good zoom lens. The weight feels good in the hand, the pommel seems a little to rounded but bearable. All in all initial reaction was good for the weapon. It took about two and a half seconds though to realise that the scabbard was a piece of junk, jagged edges on the scabbards cover will soon shred any weapon placed within it, well at least mark and scratch it very badly, the metal work will fall off given half a days movement and the leather (if it is leather) on the scabbard looks to be very poor quality and stuck together with pritt stick rather than a glue of any strength or better still stitched, a severe let down compared to the weapon.

12 Months on

12 months on and these weapons have taken a huge beating. The skill of most of the group is such now that these weapons hinder us in certain movements due to the serration along the blades. Now they are starter weapons for new members as we source them weapons that they can use. They will continue to be used this season but will be relegated to wall decorations by the end of it. The handles required repairs half way through the season as they had split and the pommels constantly came loose throughout fights and required covert tightening during the show. I do not feel they are a huge disappointment rather the skills of the fighters have outgrown the weapons. That being said it is doubtful we will be buying anymore of these.

The Weapon

I am sure that should the weapon be compared to other weapon manufacturers the Museum Replicas weapon would give a reasonable to low account for itself however, for the purposes and reasons that we require the weapon for they will be more than adequate. Unlike most re enactors weapons that generally do not require much (if any) sword play, we have been surprised at the damage caused to the blade, already we could saw a thin piece of wood with one edge of the weapon. That being said though, due to the low amount of force in the blows, misdirection and choreographed fighting sequences the depth of the 'chips' are not more than a millimetre at most and will be unlikely to get any worse. In years to come when they are past their service they will make handy tenon saws.