User blog comment:CheesyCheese/Saladin vs. Trajan/@comment-2006360-20110902152922

Trajan, while Emperor, never saw actual combat, but did while he was a soldier. So therefore he has muche xperience, but his technique may have dried up. I have a suspicion that I am related to the Ayyubids, and Saladin has better weapons altogether.

Thornclaw's Thorny Edges

Close Range: The Gladius is longer and can pierce Saladin's armor, so it gets the edge. Edge: Gladius

Mid Range: The Pilum can be thrown from a distance, yet with minimal armor to slow him down, Saladin can dodge, and Trajan's soldiers would probably only be able to get out maybe 3 or 4 pilum throws before Saladin's troops are on top of them, and the scimitar is beast. Edge: Scimitar

Long Range: The Scorpion takes much longer to reload than the Recurve Bow, and will probably only get about 2 shots out before it goes to close combat. If Saladin is on horseback, than the Recurve Bow is even more efffective, as we saw with Attila on the original Deadliest Warrior. Edge: Recurve Bow

Special: The Dolabra is a powerful weapon, but Saladin's war hammer is faster and can probably smack it's spike into Trajan's helmet, while the Dolabra's effectiveness is no better than the Scythian Axe (and it failed on Alexander's helmet, which was even weaker than Saladin's may be!). Edge: War Hammer

Ultimate Winner: I'm going with Saladin. He's faster, has better tricks up his sleeve than Trajan, and is actually much more experienced.