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Mech-Monkey t1_j1aj4qz wrote

Another thing that people don't seem to be mentioning is the difference between iron and steel weapons. Making a steel sword of the middle ages was a very different process from making an iron (or even bronze) sword of the roman era. They would definitely not have been able to equip their armies with steel weapons on quite the same level, despite the immense funds and manpower the roman empire had.

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Horror_in_Vacuum OP t1_j1aqbch wrote

But iron swords were already considerably more difficult to make than bronze swords, weren't they? Because of the whole thing that bronze can be molded and iron needs to be forged. Not to mention the higher melting point of iron ore.

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Welshhoppo t1_j1atm6g wrote

Not really. To make Bronze you need both copper and tin. So you require a more complex economic network to bring the raw materials to the same place.

Sure Iron is harder to forge, but you can slap an iron forge right by an iron mine and your job is done.

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