Gladius

Gladius is a Latin word for sword. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those used by the Greeks. From the 3rd century BCE, the Romans adopted swords similar to those used by the Celtiberians and others during the conquest of Hispania. This kind of sword was known as the Gladius Hispaniensis, or "Hispanic Sword." It was once thought that they were similar to the later Mainz types, but the evidence now suggests that this was not the case. Rather these early blades followed a slightly different pattern, being longer and narrower, and were probably those that Polybius considered good for both cut and thrust. Later extant Gladii are now known as the Mainz, Fulham and Pompei types. In the late Roman period Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus refers to swords called semispathae (or semispathia) and spathae, for both of which he appears to consider gladius an appropriate term.
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(n.)
The internal shell, or pen, of cephalopods like the squids.
  

The short thrusting sword of the Romans, developed originally in bronze but more effective in the later iron examples. These blades were short yet a little heavy, designed both for thrusting and for cutting in close-in combat. The gladius was modified for horseback into another, longer sword, the spatha , to which medieval swords owe most of their design qualities.

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swordfish