[robotomir]

I think shortage of metal was a problem during the bronze age. Because bronze is easily recyclable, my theory is that the Late Bronze Age collapse happened when everyone had a sword. In the Iron age, it's not a question of availability, but of technology, how quickly can you provision a sword and a chainmail for everyone?

[ProjectArcturis]

Swords have always been a fairly rare weapon. Spears and pole-arms offer longer range at much lower cost, particularly in the context of massed infantry battles.

[trashtester]

Swords are terribly effective weapons for infantry with enough protective gear to close in with spearmen, for armies who could not only afford the sword, but also the shield and armor needed for that.

The Romans learned this from the celts early on, and went on to conquer the Mediterranian.

Against the heavy knights of the Medieval period, swords were pretty useless for infantry, though. And at the end of the Middle Ages, when pikes had regained the dominant position for the infantry, armor had become so effective that regular swords would have trouble penetrating. During the 14th anc 15th century, halberds and poleaxes and specialist greatswords would would fill the role that the gladius had 1500 years before, ie that of being able to decisively defeat the pikes after closing in. (Although, until gunpowder weapons took over, pikes were still the most frequent weapon, as the defence against cavalry was still necessary).

[ProjectArcturis]

The Romans conquered the Mediterranean in 146 BC (end of the third Punic War). They didn't face the Celts in battle until 55 BC when Julius Caesar first invaded Britain.

[ricree]

Celtic cultures were once predominant in Western Europe. If I understand correctly, the person you were replying to most likely meant the Iberian Celts in modern day Spain.

[trashtester]

The Romans came into contact with Gauls and other Celts around 400BC [1]. At the time, various tribes of Celts occupied large territories from Anatolia in the East to Britain and Iberia in the west. [2]

At the time, the Romans were basically using the same weapons and tactics as the Greeks, but they had trouble when fighting the Celts when the Celts managed to breech their lines.

In 390 BC, the celts sacked Rome [3]. In response, Rome was fortified and the the Romans would be training and organizing in ways intended to withstand the Celtic charge. Most importantly, that meant improving cohesion and discipline to the point where they could hold the line.

Gradually, though, the Romans would also incorporate Celtic arms and armor, both from Gaulic Celts and Iberian Celts, perhaps most famously the Gladius [4].

Eventually, Rome started to push the Celts back, but there were setbacks, such as when Hannibal employed large numbers of Celtic soldiers during the Punic Wars [5].

Eventually, the Roman military came out if these conflict as a much stronger force when it had started, and ended up as a force that was even able to match the Macedonian phalanxes (partly because the Macedonians did not employ cavalry with the skill that Alexander had).

While Rome was busy conquering the Mediterranean, Germanic tribes were pressuring the Celtic tribes that had occupied modern day Germany, partly replacing them and partly subjugating them.

The Cimbrian war started in 113BC (the Cimbrians themselves may have been Germanic or Celtic, but the Teutons supporting them were definitely Germanic, and the German name for Germany (Deutschland) is taken from them).

Initially, the barbarians were on the offensive, but in the end the Romans under the leadership of Gaius Marius were able to push them back.

In response to the weakness against the Germanics, Marius would institute his "Marius Reforms", replacing the citizen army with a much more capable professional army. [7]. These soldiers are the most famous incarnation of the Roman Legions, armed with Pila, Scuta and and Gladii.

Those reforms, incidentally, paved they way for the Fall of the Republic.

[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisalpine_Gaul [2]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts [3]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Allia#Aftermath,... [4]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius [5]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War [6]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbrian_War [7]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_reforms

[robotomir]

What about armor?

[watersb]

Armor is hard. It slows you down, and you can't hear or see as well as the guy coming up behind you.

If you are trained well enough to be effective with metal armor, you're probably trained well enough to be effective without it in close quarters.

Heavy plate requires mounted cavalry, but largely negates the maneuverability of horse, and can be brought down with foot trained with pikes or heavy spears.

Maybe the metal was best used elsewhere.

[hermitcrab]

Medieval warriors who could afford it wore plate armour, because it was (despite some drawbacks) incredibly effective protection. Many modern tropes (they had to be be winched on to horses, they couldn't get up if they fell over etc) are just plain wrong. The medieval warriors were less educated than us, but they weren't stupid.