Rome’s warriors are legendary. The army that carved out the Empire is renowned as one of the finest fighting forces ever assembled. But who were the individuals that filled its ranks, and what motivated them to fight for Rome? A new exhibition at the British Museum allows the soldiers to speak for themselves, revealing a world where hope for the future could go hand in hand with extreme brutality. The weapons that these warriors wielded illustrate the lethal ingenuity that was invested in arms and armour.  

Excavations in a Japanese tomb have recently unearthed a rather more unwieldy weapon: the longest sword ever discovered in the country. This extraordinary artefact is well over 2m in length, making it doubtful that the sword could have been brandished by a single individual in ceremonies, let alone combat. It was joined in the tomb by a mirror that is also the largest known in Japan, and further distinguished by its graceful decoration. We examine what the combination of these objects might signify.

Survey work in the United Arab Emirates has been springing surprises, too. A wealth of archaeological features spanning some 700 centuries has been revealed on and around an imposing landmark known as Jebel Hafeet, which means ‘empty mountain’. More than a million stone artefacts lie scattered in its hinterland, betraying the presence of a Palaeolithic workshop.

When a Chinese emperor set up new workshops at the Forbidden City inthe 18th century, he called them the Zimingzhongchu or ‘office of the self-ringing bells’. Craftsmen within laboured to combine Chinese and European clockwork mechanisms to create breathtaking mechanical marvels. These devices reveal much about Europe and China during the era, and even helped the emperor demonstrate his right to rule.

Finally, in our travel section Richard Hodges returns to Monte Cassino and chronicles how this magnificent monastery reached its apogee.