[K. Robert]

Hey, recently I've been reading more about roman swords and I've been thinking of getting one, and I really like the look of the Decurio. Does anyone here have it and could comment on how it handles/looks/feels etc. ? There seem to be no reviews of it, or even pictures online. And if you don,'t have the decurio personally but have handled other spathas I welcome any alternatives as well. Thanks

[J. Nicolaysen]

I'm interested too. Actually I like the looks of the Alaris more, but that one seems stuck in Albion's version of development hell. For about 300 or so years these spathae would have been an incredibly widespread and influential sword, it'd be nice to know how people like the reproduction.

[David Wilson]

I don't have the Decurio, but I do have the Auxilia (different sword, from a different period, but there are some shared similarities). I have a few spathae and would not mind getting the Decurio myself (alas, money problems...).

That being said, there are a few things you'll need to keep in mind when purchasing a quality reproduction spatha, like the Decurio: first, spathae tend to have a blade-forward bias (Albion lists the CoG of the Decurio as 7 inches). Overall, the sword will be light in weight, but it will feel blade heavy. This is not a bad thing. This is how this sword is supposed to feel (and should be expected considering the largely organic nature of the spatha hilt), and is probably historically accurate as well. But it is not necessarily clumsy or slow, in fact you may appreciate a sword with a CoG closer to its CoP.
Second, you may feel the hilt is somewhat restrictive. Most accurate reproductions of ancient swords do have rather small-feeling hilts. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing, and is historically accurate. In fact, with a little study into how the ancients handled their swords (think handshake over hammer grip for cutting use), the smallish size may not be an issue to you.

Other than that, I'd go for it, if I were in the market for a later-period spatha...