It wouldn't surprise me in the least.
A known fact is that when Rome fought the Dacians in what is now Romania, they had the largest army ever deployed by Rome (they called in legions from Britain, from Germany, France, Greece...). And it took Trajan two campaigns to eventually succeed in subduing the Dacians, with whose kingdom the Roman Empire was actually neighours and in peaceful, diplomatic relations.
The whole purpose for the Trajan Dacian wars was money/ gold. Rome was almost bankrupt and strangely, their neighbours, the Dacians were not only wealthy, but were also building an army while increasing their kingdom's territory. And after Rome got the Dacian gold, they built Rome as we know it today. Almost all ancient buildings which are still standing in Rome are built with the gold the Romans got from the Dacians. As a plus, Roman citizens did not have to pay their taxes for a whole year...
Oh, well, history.
Found this neat series of videos on katanas vs longswords, this guy seems a little more credible! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnkVlK3BFLw
This lovely piece of steel here: Simple, elegant, brutal (elegant and brutal..odd combo), and does what it was designed for VERY well. Much more practical than a flail :P
If not the mace, and since i'm going to stay medieval and not go back to roman days (in which the gladius would be my other choice), I'm going to go with the medieval longsword/bastard sword/hand and a half..whatever you choose to call it.
The two-wood hunting bow for hunting and the two-wood war-bow for war. These are finds from 12th century Norway, laminated bows using pressure-pine and birch. The hunting bow is probably sami in origin, and may refer to "finnbogi" in the sagas. It looks somewhat like the skyrim hunting bow, though it is 2 layers of wood and have attached "ears". 60 lbs should do the job for most deer types of game.
The second bow looks like a yew longbow, only a little more flat in the cross-section. It is also laminated with pressure-pine and birch, with the birch going from nock to nock along the back. This one packs a punch with around 100 lbs.
Both these bows are really nice to look at, and both qualifies as medival. I'm really sorry i don't have any pics to show though. I might try to dig up some in the future.
early middle ages i believe, and yes, the primary sword of knights until longsword came into play from what i remember around the late middle ages/renaissance. Arming swords (again, if i remember correctly..terminology can get confusing lol) came after the viking sword/norman sword which itself was a direct evolution of the Spatha of antiquity. So id say the arming sword is just that..an arming sword. Not quite a broadsword, not quite a longsword either yet
I used to be part of a medieval re-enactment group with my dad, the main focus of the group being on the longbow. We had a 120lb war bow but man, I couldn't even draw the thing! Yet seeing that bow shoot an arrow through a car door is something I won't forget, so I guess that makes it my favourite weapon by default.
I also enjoyed one of the knight's hand and a half or bastard sword and watching them fight each other sword vs mace and shield. I had a nice sword, well balanced and perfect for the points of contact show fighting we did. We had a crossbow, but I never enjoyed shooting with it - didn't like the risk of losing my fingers.
Where to begin on this...
I love the English/Welsh longbow, the actual warhammers of that time (See the ColdSteel product for reference), the Messer type blades (although I suppose that actually isn't a Medieval weapon, so I should say that the Falchion, from which the Messer was derived, would take its place), and I suppose the Tulwar (sp?), since we got the 1796 British Light Cavalry Sabre(er) from it.
Then there are the various halberds out there, which I love, though know little about in the way of identifying them. My favorite model is the type that looks like one big slab of metal. It looks more durable and brutal than the others. In the picture displayed, you can see three of this type on the far left.
Oh, wait, siege weapons, too? Alright, my favorite siege weapon is totally without a doubt, the Swarm of Bees:
This thing was basically the first shotgun; firing several hundred "rocket" propelled arrows at defenders peaking over the walls, or just aiming high and makin' it rain!