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A Sports Dispute Started the Cuban Missile Crisis and Other Odd Facts

Khalid Elhassan October 28, 2019 31 min

4th century BC Iberian falcata. Wikimedia

8. Deadly Design and Great Manufacture

It was not only the quality of the falcata’s design and the ferocity of its wielders that discomfited the Romans, but also the quality of the metal that went into making it. Falcata blades were made from three layers of steel that had been buried for years in order to corrode out weaknesses, which were then joined together in a furnace.

Ancient sources report that blade quality was tested by a warrior placing the flat of the blade atop his head, then bending it so handle and tip touched his shoulders. A good falcata blade was expected to spring back into shape, with no hint of the bend.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.