Iron is essential to a military empire, including weapons, armor, horseshoes, and tools. The Roman Empire was no different, and iron was crucial to their survival. The Iron Age was several centuries before the Roman Empire, so the Romans were well acquainted with the process of turning iron ore into usable tools and weapons.
The Romans had iron. Slaves or prisoners mined the iron, and smiths heated it in furnaces called bloomeries. Some iron became steel, but most of it remained as wrought iron.
This article will look at the many uses the Romans had for iron, including several kinds of weapons. It’ll also go step by step through the Romans’ process to make iron tools. Keep reading to learn all about Romans and their relationship with iron.
Also see Did the Romans Have Steel Swords? to learn more.
What Did the Romans Use Iron For?
Iron has countless uses, far more than just making weapons and armor. Iron can be used for tools, mechanical pieces, horseshoes, nails, and many more things. The Romans were well aware of how useful iron could be, and they used the metal in all kinds of everyday items.
The Romans used iron for weapons, armor, tools, and everyday utensils. The Romans had plenty of iron and used it when they needed a sturdier metal than bronze. They also turned some of their iron into steel.
The uses that the Romans found for iron are seemingly endless. Roman medical practitioners performed surgeries with iron scalpels and forceps. Smiths used iron to craft tongs, anvils, and hammers that they used to make even more iron.
Farmers used iron for scythes, tills, and shovels to work the ground and harvest their crops. Iron was everywhere in the Roman Empire, and it ensured the Romans were well-fed, armed, and healthy.
Roman soldiers used iron, as well. Most of their armor was made from iron, bronze, leather, and wool. Smiths turned iron into tiny rings woven together to create light but durable chain mail. Other soldiers wore armor made of long strips of iron or iron scale mail. The soldiers also carried tools made partially out of iron, including pickaxes, sickles, and shields.
The Romans even used iron to repair their streets. Recent archeological discoveries have found evidence of molten iron poured over stone streets at Pompeii. [1] The stone streets would have gotten worn down by heavy carts and frequent use, so the citizens of Pompeii repaired the ruts in their streets with molten iron.
The liquid iron filled the holes in the street and cooled, creating a smooth, hard surface. This process was faster and less expensive than repaving the stones.
Also see Did the Romans Know About China? to learn more.
Did the Romans Have Iron Swords?
Roman soldiers carried many weapons, including a dagger, sword, spear, or javelin. Iron was instrumental in outfitting the Roman army with its weapons because most were made of either iron or steel. [2]
The Romans had iron swords, but most Roman soldiers carried steel shortswords called gladiuses. The Romans used iron for some longswords and cheaper swords than the gladius.
The gladius, the shortsword that most Roman soldiers carried on their right hips, was typically steel. Roman soldiers used the gladius for close combat after using ranged weapons like javelins or throwing darts. The gladius was essential for any Roman soldier. It’s the word from which “gladiator,” the quintessential Roman warrior, derives.
The steel gladius was lightweight, easy to maneuver, and deadly in combat. The Romans reserved iron for smaller weapons.
In addition to the gladius, the Romans carried several iron weapons. The pugio was a dagger made of iron or steel, used for stabbing enemies in close combat. The Romans used iron to construct the pugio’s blade, hilt, sheath, and tang (the end of the blade that connects to and extends inside the hilt).
The Romans also carried spears for thrusting at enemies in mid-range combat. These spears were made with wooden shafts and metal tips, the most common kind being made of iron. However, some spear tips were made of bronze. The Romans used iron for their javelins as well, arming them with pyramidal iron shanks.
Also see Did the Romans Declare War on Neptune? to learn more.
How Did the Romans Make Iron?
Iron is a naturally occurring element, but iron in nature doesn’t look like the tools and weapons that the Romans used. Turning iron from the ore found in nature into a usable material requires several steps. [3]
The Romans made iron by mining iron ore from the ground. Then, smiths heated the ore in bloomeries to separate the iron from impurities. They also beat the hot iron with a hammer to help remove unwanted materials.
The Romans mined for iron in several different regions. The most famous Roman iron mines were in Noricum, which is located in modern-day Austria and Slovenia. Noricum produced high-quality iron that the Romans turned into steel, called Noric steel. Noric steel was famous for producing light, durable steel swords.
Other Roman iron mines were located in modern-day Great Britain, Transylvania, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. When the Romans saw iron ore on the surface, they would dig up the surrounding area in search of deeper deposits of ore. Some of these mines used slave labor to do the dangerous, labor-intensive work of extracting ore from the earth.
The Romans then took the raw ore and processed it. They used tools to crush the ore before washing away the rocky excess, leaving iron oxide. Smiths took this iron oxide to special furnaces called bloomeries, where they turned it into wrought iron or steel.
Bloomeries were clay or stone furnaces with a chimney on top and holes near the bottom to allow air to enter. Bloomeries could get much hotter than metal heated on an open flame, making them perfect for smelting iron ore into iron. The smiths removed the heated iron, called “the bloom,” and pounded it with a hammer to separate the slag from the iron.
Hitting the heated iron with a hammer, removing its impurities, produced “wrought” iron, or “worked iron.”
Conclusion
The Romans used iron to make weapons and tools for everyday use. They occasionally turned their iron into steel.
Also see Did the Romans Have Pasta? to learn more.