31. Ancient Spartans Kept Their Swords Short to Draw Their Men Closer to the Enemy
Xiphoi were initially made of bronze. That made their leaf shape blades easy to create because bronze, unlike iron and steel, is cast rather than forged. Thus, getting the leaf shape for a bronze sword was simply a matter of pouring molten bronze into a leaf-shaped mold. By the seventh and sixth centuries BC, the ancient world had undergone significant advances in metallurgy, and iron supplanted bronze in making xiphoi.
Xiphoi were usually carried in a baldric and hung under the user’s left arm. As ancient Greek warfare revolved around the phalanx, which was a spear-based formation, the xiphos was the hoplite’s or phalangite’s secondary weapon. It was employed in close combat for situations in which the spear was ineffective or not ideal. The ancient Spartans were noted for their use of the xiphos, and Spartan xiphoi blades were particularly short, measuring only a foot in length. As the Spartans liked to tell anybody who asked, the short blades were intended to instill aggression in Spartan warriors, by forcing them to draw that much closer to their enemies.
