Not a knight's sword. The gladius is the short, broad, leaf-bladed weapon the Roman legions actually carried, and Kàlid has cut this one in wood: the blade painted black with a grey stripe along the edge so it catches the light like steel, the fuller running down the middle, and the hilt left as pale bare timber with a rounded knob pommel and a rivet through the guard.

It belongs to Kàlid's Kaligula collection, which also runs a tunic, a cape, a plumed helmet, a round shield and a pilum spear, so this is the piece you buy first if a Roman costume is the plan.

It weighs 120 grams. Kalidinteriors makes these by hand in Vic, outside Barcelona.