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.
Mech-Monkey t1_j1aj4qz wrote
Reply to How did the Romans manage to arm most of their soldiers with swords? by Horror_in_Vacuum
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.