Machaira
The meaning of machaira sword was ideological. A king who was at the same time a sacerdotus and owned a machaira, made rituals before the battle. Its power showed to the army the right path and saved from enemies' traps. It was supposed that the sword kept the troubles away. It was very important that the machaira  to be used only by a  sacerdotus, otherwise it was only a beautiful but powerless weapon.