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Iron Weapons

Roman Iron Ore to Weapons Process

Step 1: Iron Smelting (Bloomery Process)

Romans used bloomery furnaces - clay and stone structures about 1 metre tall with tuyeres (clay pipes) to force air through with bellows. The process required temperatures of “1100°-1200°C” achieved by burning charcoal with forced air.

Process:

  • Iron ore is “broken into small pieces and usually roasted in a fire” to remove impurities
  • Ore mixed with charcoal in roughly “one-to-one ratio”
  • “Carbon monoxide from the incomplete combustion of the charcoal reduces the iron oxides in the ore to metallic iron without melting the ore”
  • Result is a “spongy mass of iron and slag called a bloom” - not molten metal, but a porous mass

Step 2: Bloom Processing

“Workers then repeatedly beat and folded it to force out the molten slag” while the bloom was still hot, creating wrought iron - a malleable, workable metal.

Step 3: Steel Making (Carburization)

“Smiths in the Middle East discovered that wrought iron could be turned into a much harder product by heating the finished piece in a bed of charcoal, and then quenching it in water or oil” - this added carbon to create steel.

Step 4: Weapon Forging

Gladius Production:

Roman swords could be made two ways: “from a single bloom of 1,237 degrees Centigrade” or as “composite blade” using “five blooms each at 1,163 degrees Centigrade”.

Composite Method: “Five strips of varying carbon content were created. The central core of the sword contained the highest concentration of carbon, ranging from 0.15 to 0.25 percent. On its edges were placed four strips of low-carbon steel with a concentration of 0.05 to 0.07%”.

“The whole thing was welded together by forging on the pattern of hammer blows. A blow increased the temperature sufficiently to produce a friction weld at that spot”.

Pilum Production:

Pilum had “an iron shank about 7 mm in diameter and 600 mm long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft”. “The shank was sometimes made of softer iron” that would “bend after impact, thus rendering the weapon useless to the enemy”.

Perfect Integration with Your Story:

Celtic “Cold Iron” Enhancement:

Your Celtic smiths could teach Romans that “forging continued until the steel was cold” preserves the iron’s “earth-strength” better than hot-forging. This fits perfectly with bloomery technology - the Romans were already doing some cold-working.

Supernatural Iron Properties:

  • Natural cave iron ore from Forest of Dean has special properties
  • Minimal fire use during forging preserves supernatural effectiveness
  • Celtic blessing rituals enhance the iron’s protective qualities during the forging process
  • Water quenching (already part of steel-making) becomes crucial for supernatural enhancement

Historical Accuracy:

Romans had “fabri” (blacksmiths) attached to legions with “status of immunes”, and “There were also public workshops, fabricae, dedicated to the making of the gladii”. Your story can show these specialists learning Celtic techniques.

This process gives you authentic Roman metallurgy while providing perfect opportunities for supernatural enhancement through Celtic knowledge!