Actually, Bushi, as I said earlier, cutlasses may have higher attack, but they also have MUCH lower balance, so the damage difference isn't that much, and they can't be upgraded or ego'd, and have less durability.
Average damage = (Max - Min) * Balance + Min
Gladius = (32 - 15) * .59 + 15 = 25.03
Cutlass = (38 - 22) * .34 + 22 = 27.44
So unless you have a lot of dex to bring up your balance, I'd go with gladiuses