The Biggest Mistakes in Movies About Ancient Rome

The Biggest Mistakes in Movies About Ancient Rome
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There are countless movies and TV shows about Ancient Rome. Some do a decent job capturing historical details, but most really don’t. In this video, we’re breaking down the most common mistakes filmmakers make when depicting Roman life, history, and warfare.

Let’s start with the most obvious and frequent error: stirrups.

Seriously—watch any Roman-era film, and cavalry is always riding with stirrups. But here’s the thing: stirrups didn’t exist in Roman times. They didn’t appear in Europe until the 6th century AD, around the very end of the Western Roman Empire.

To be fair, we understand why modern productions use them. Most actors—and even many stunt riders—aren’t trained to ride without them, and it’s safer with stirrups. But here’s the question: if they’re going to use them for filming, why not just digitally remove them during editing? That’s totally doable with today’s technology.

Next up: architecture.

Hollywood Rome is almost always made up of majestic white marble buildings—with the Colosseum smack in the middle. That’s fine if your story is set in the 2nd to 4th centuries AD. But Republican Rome looked very different.

Most buildings back then were made of mud brick, not marble. Only a few temples on the Palatine Hill were built in stone. And the Colosseum—also known as the Flavian Amphitheater—wasn’t even built until the late 1st century AD.

Another frequent mistake is how the Roman Senate is portrayed. In films, the Senate always meets in a perfectly round hall. That’s... partially true—for a short time.

Before 52 BC, the Senate often met in the Curia Hostilia, which did have a circular space. But that building burned down in 52 BC. Julius Caesar then ordered a new Senate House—the Curia Julia—which still stands in Rome today. And guess what? It’s rectangular.

Even before 52 BC, Senate meetings were regularly held in other buildings, most of which were not circular at all.

Now, let’s talk about costumes.

Men’s clothing in Roman films is usually decent. Not perfect, but passable. Women’s costumes, on the other hand, are a disaster.

In movies, Roman women are often shown walking the streets in just a tunic—with bare heads. In reality, that would only be acceptable for a slave. Respectable Roman women—matrons—wore two garments: a tunic and a stola, plus a cloak in bad weather.

And going out bareheaded? Absolutely scandalous. A proper Roman matron always covered her hair—at least partially—with a shawl or wrap.

Another problem: statues.

Roman statues in films are always white, just like the ones in museums. But that’s not how they originally looked.

Roman—and Greek—statues were painted in vivid colors to appear lifelike. The paint faded after centuries underground, leaving only the bare stone behind.

Now let’s move on to armor.

Due to budget constraints, filmmakers often reuse props from other historical eras—or just make things up. For some reason, they love showing Roman soldiers in leather armor.

In reality, Romans never wore leather armor. The absolute lightest protection would have been a linen cuirass, made from glued layers of fabric—called linothorax. But even that was more common in earlier Greek warfare than in Rome.

Also, many movies show legionaries wearing lorica segmentata—the iconic banded armor—even when the story is set in the time of Julius Caesar or earlier.

Historically, lorica segmentata didn’t appear until the reign of Emperor Augustus. Before that, Roman troops mainly wore lorica hamata—chainmail.

And then there’s the fight choreography. Let’s be honest—it’s often a total mess.

Roman legionaries are shown fighting like wild barbarians, each man on his own. But Rome’s real battlefield strength was its tight formations—and breaking formation was a last resort.

A Roman soldier only found himself outside formation if his unit had collapsed and he was fleeing in panic.

Swordplay in movies is also highly exaggerated. You often see flashy sword fights with lots of blade clashing. But Roman infantry didn’t parry with their swords. They used their shields to block attacks. The short sword—the gladius—was for stabbing, not fencing.

And finally, let’s not forget that the main weapon of the Roman legionary wasn’t even the sword. It was the pilum—a heavy throwing spear designed to break enemy shields before the fighting even began.

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