This recent post from NoStupidQuestions highlight how false narratives about swords have become prevalent. The top reply, with close to four hundred upvotes, states the following:
>Aside from the Roman Empire, which used swords as a primary weapon for legionaries (along with their enormous shields and some highly specialized throwing spears), swords weren't very common in open warfare.
The comment likewise claims swords were very expensive & associates them with the nobility. What can we do to counter such distorted narratives? Swords of course saw standard use in open warfare across the planet for centuries. They may have been sidearms for many troops, but soldiers used these sidearms in most any hard-fought contest.
There are no stupid questions, but there are wrong answers.