I've been a fan of war films since I was born, and recently I've been trying to decide how much of films like "Gladiator" and "The Last Of The Mohicans" are Hollywood and how much of them are at least partly truth.
I was watching the HBO series "Spartacus" (not too much of a fan, but I'm only in the first episode) and I noticed that Spartacus cuts a mans arm off with a Gladius. Now I'm not a doctor, but I figure it would be pretty dang hard to cut through bone, especially with a short roman sword.
The Gladius was a thrusting weapon, contrary to the broadsword [English Longsword] that appeared in the dark/middle ages, which was used to blunt your opponent and then finish him off with a thrust, a solution to a few knights whom had the wealth to buy plate armor.
That being said, although there were many types of weapons that spanned the ages in which one would have used a blade (ending approx. in the late 1700's for most civilized armies), I often see most battlefields covered in every limb a person has. How accurate is this? Although I mentioned the Romans, let's judge from 300 B.C.- 1400 A.D.
Also, during the average engagement that took place, say, in the 11th century, what percentage of men would have fallen during a battlefield? I can't imagine the average battle was decided by the last man standing. Would about 30% of the men die before the battle was over? Obviously this would be a rough estimate since every battle is different..
Please, only historians and doctors, (I.E. no self proclaimed experts who've seen "Kingdom Of Heaven" one too many times).
I was watching the HBO series "Spartacus" (not too much of a fan, but I'm only in the first episode) and I noticed that Spartacus cuts a mans arm off with a Gladius. Now I'm not a doctor, but I figure it would be pretty dang hard to cut through bone, especially with a short roman sword.
The Gladius was a thrusting weapon, contrary to the broadsword [English Longsword] that appeared in the dark/middle ages, which was used to blunt your opponent and then finish him off with a thrust, a solution to a few knights whom had the wealth to buy plate armor.
That being said, although there were many types of weapons that spanned the ages in which one would have used a blade (ending approx. in the late 1700's for most civilized armies), I often see most battlefields covered in every limb a person has. How accurate is this? Although I mentioned the Romans, let's judge from 300 B.C.- 1400 A.D.
Also, during the average engagement that took place, say, in the 11th century, what percentage of men would have fallen during a battlefield? I can't imagine the average battle was decided by the last man standing. Would about 30% of the men die before the battle was over? Obviously this would be a rough estimate since every battle is different..
Please, only historians and doctors, (I.E. no self proclaimed experts who've seen "Kingdom Of Heaven" one too many times).