You flinch when you imagine running your finger along the extremely sharp blades of these gladiator swords. You recall that the word gladiator is derived from gladius (sword), and originally gladiators used swords quite similar to those carried by Roman legionaries. However, nowadays most gladiators fight with shorter swords such as these. Only the Thraex carries a special kind of sword (sica) whose blade is either curved or kinked. You chuckle as you remember the clever double-entendre of the satirist Juvenal, who attributes the erotic appeal of gladiators to their swords: "What these women love is the sword" (ferrum est quod amant, Satire 6.112).