GLADIATOR: THE MOVIE

I asked: OK so I saw the movie "Gladiator" and I was quite impressed with the big Romans vs. Germanics battle at the begining. I do have a few questions about period details however.
1. Did the Romans really have their armour done up in black like that or was it a special "cinematic night fight" artistic license sort of thing?
2. The movie was nominaly set in 180 AD. Were the Romans still using Lorica Segmenata as depicted? I had thought they were entirely chainmail by this time.
3. Were the Germanics such consummate axemen? I had believed they were very much swordsfolk, much like the Gauls who they neighboured.
4. Did the Germanics really run around in all black clothing? Or was it like the black armour and probably a "hollywood" effect (those wild Goths, with their black clothing and pale makeup, dontcha know...)
Punkrabbitt <---- who is sometimes confused by the differences between what is seen in Osprey, read in Time-Life, and watched on television.

ggouveia replied:
> 1. Did the Romans really have their armour done up in black like that or was it a special "cinematic night fight" artistic licensesort of thing?
--- Did not notice, just thought it was dirty from campaigning.

> 2. The movie was nominaly set in 180 AD. Were the Romans still using Lorica Segmenata as depicted? I had thought they were entirely chainmail by this time.
--- Yes they were using Lorica Segmenta- the auxilaries were in chainmail.

> 3. Were the Germanics such consummate axemen? I had believed they were very much > swordsfolk, much like the Gauls who they neighboured.
--- No, Germanics were fond of the axe. Not a lot of swords used but mainly spear, axe and heavy club.

> 4. Did the Germanics really run around in all black clothing? Or was it like the black armour and probably a "hollywood" effect (those wild Goths, with their black clothing and pale makeup, dontcha know...)
--- They prefered natural wool or dark clothing dyed dark green, dark blue and brown.

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