In these last days of Rome, you never know when you’ll be called upon to hitch up your Jovian moons and defend the gates against the barbarian hordes. And what better weapon to hold that line than the blade that tasted the blood of every thuggish clan from Cairo to Cardiff, and saw more mano-a-mano than a bathhouse on Spartacus Street--the Roman gladius.

The gladius and its distinctive blade geometry, appropriated from the Spanish Celts, was the business end of a fierce Roman combat discipline, its stout triangular tip used to jab at the enemy from underneath and around a shield. At the same time, its narrowing profile yielded a relatively low tip-weight, which made it wristy and dexterous when the retreating rabble of a broken enemy could be mopped up with a less conservative slashing attack.

In a modern context, these properties would make the ZT Legionnaire an ideal tool for close quarters home defense. The gladius is long and nasty enough to makes its point directly without need for fancy swordplay, yet its length and weighting allows for a quick and tight parry in closer confines.

The Legionnaire is handcrafted as if by Vulcan himself from 5160 spring steel with leather grip and Kydex sheath.