The Roman sword is one of the most famous of all weapons. Roman legion infantry along with Roman shields, pilums, spears and breastplate or lorica segmentata used it, however it is still the Roman sword that we most recognize. Earlier examples of the Roman sword such as the Mainz pattern were wider wasted blade as compared to the later model of the Pompeii sword with was slightly narrower along with a straighter blade. The term gladiator comes from the use of the gladius sword by these fighters in the arena.