Fun Roman Myths Everyone Believes (But Probably Shouldn’t)

Thanks to Hollywood with their vast number of sand and sandals moves, television shows and popular culture, most people have a picture in their head of what ancient Rome looked like. The problem? A lot of those pictures aren’t quite right. Don’t get me wrong, many movies and documentaries have sparked an interest in Roman history (maybe yourself included) and that’s a good thing! But over time, a few myths have become so widespread that people mistaken them as historical fact. Let’s take a look at some of my favorites:

Myth #1: In gladiatorial combat, a thumbs up meant life, and a thumbs down mean death.

This is probably one of the most common Roman myths of all. You’ve seen it a hundred times, a gladiator stands victorious over his defeated opponent. The crowd looks to the Emperor or procurator of the games in eager anticipation. The Emperor gives a thumbs up or a thumbs down, deciding the fate of the fallen fighter. The problem is that historians aren’t convinced the Romans used those gestures the way we do today. Ancient sources refer to gestures involving the thumb, but they don’t clearly describe them. In fact, many scholars believe the famous “thumbs down for death” image largely comes from a nineteenth century painting called Pollice Verso and was later reinforced by Hollywood. The actual gestures used in Roman arenas are still debated, but the modern thumbs up/ thumbs down interpretation is almost certainly wrong. So if you’ve learned Roman history from the movie Gladiator, you’re in good company, but the reality was probably much more complicated.

Myth #2: Gladiator fights always ended in death.

While we are on the topic of gladiators, this myth keeps rearing it’s ugly head time and time again, because Hollywood loves a dramatic ending. As a result, many people imagine that every gladiator fight ended with on combatant dying in the arena. In reality, gladiators were expensive investments. Training a gladiator required time, money, food, equipment and professional instruction. Owners generally preferred that skilled fighters survive to compete again. While deaths did certainly occur, gladiatorial contests were often more similar to professional sporting events (imagine MMA, boxing etc) than the constant death matches shown in movies. A dead gladiator couldn’t generate future income, but a famous gladiator could.

Myth #3: Every Roman soldier wore a bright red tunic and banded armor.

If you ask someone to picture a Roman legionary (I’ll give you exactly 2.5 seconds to imagine it yourself) and chances are the first image the pops into the head is a Roman soldier, in a red tunic, a steel helmet, wearing steel banded armor, wielding a short sword and a big rectangular shield. Once again, we must blame Hollywood. When we think of standardization in today’s military everyone pretty much gets the same over all look. (For those outside the U.S. please bear with me as I was only in the U.S. military) But we all were issued the same style helmet, the same digital camouflage uniform, the same armor plate carrier, the same boots, heck the same underwear. Standardization in Roman times is much more complex. You received a helmet, some sort of armor, a sword, a shield, a pilum (throwing javelin) a tunic, belt and boots. While Hollywood wants you to imagine everyone in the same exact gear, it was a hodge-podge of armor styles, color of tunics, bronze vs. steel helmets, various designs of swords etc etc. Helmets and armor were often passed down to other legionaries, possibly from death, or retirement. Some helmets found in the archaeological record have several names stippled into the neck guard showing that piece of gear was reissued over time. If you were to see a roman army on the march, you would see a mix of Lorica hamata (chain maille), Lorica Segmentata (the banded armor everyone is familiar with) even Lorica Squamata (which looks like fish scales). The men would have bronze or brass Coolus helmets (older style when we get to the early Imperial age), or the more famous steel gallic and italic helmets. So while we look at this with modern lenses and say there’s nothing standard about their equipment, in the Roman time period, that was exactly what standardization was like.

Going back to the red tunics, Roman soldiers word a variety of colors depending on the time period, location, available dyes, and personal finances and circumstances. While red was certainly one color worn by Roman soldiers, the evidence suggests things were again, far less standardized. Undyed wool, which appears off white or beige was probably very common and affordable. Much like today’s military, your clothing was “issued” but came out of your paycheck. You can certainly purchase more clothing items, but you did so from your own pocket. Red dye is also a rather easy and affordable color, usually made from madder root which is a plant used in making colored dye. Madder root was so cheap the British army still used it up until 1885. So since there was no standard color for tunics we can safely say there was a myriad of colors worn by Roman soldiers.

Myth #4: Romans spent all their time conquering things.

While true, Roman armies conquered enormous amounts of territory, most Romans weren’t soldiers. Just like today, the vast majority of people were ordinary civilians. They farmed, raised families, ran businesses, worried about taxes, complained about politicians, and tried to make a living. The Roman Empire lasted for centuries because it was far more than just an army. It was a complex society made of millions of ordinary people trying to get through daily life. Even life in the military wasn’t all battles and tactics. Roman soldiers were the backbone of the construction force. They built roads, aqueducts, towns, building, and of course defenses. Much time in the Roman army (just like today) is down time or training. There were periods of time some soldiers may never have saw any combat, but instead guarded a watch tower along the Limes, or a milecastle on Hardian’s Wall. Roman soldiers were often kept busy with more than just warfare, as the old adage goes, idle hands are the devil’s playground.

Myth #5: Roman soldiers never wore pants.

This one comes up constantly. If movies were to be believed, Roman soldiers marched across Europe wearing nothing but tunics year round, regardless of whether they were stationed in sunny Italy or the far north regions of Britannia. The reality is a bit more practical. Early Romans often viewed trousers (braccae) as a “barbarian” garment associated with Celtic and Germanic peoples. However, as the Empire expanded into colder regions, Roman soldiers adopted clothing that made sense for the local conditions. Archaeological evidence and artwork show Roman troops wearing various forms of trousers, especially in the norther provinces. It turns out that when you’re standing guard on Hadrian’s Wall in the middle of winter, staying warm becomes more important than fashion. The Romans were many things, but they definitely were not stupid.

Myth #6: The Roman Empire fell overnight.

Many people imagine the Roman Empire collapsing in a single dramatic moment. Almost like turning off a light switch, one day Rome ruled the world, the next day it was gone. If only history could be so neat and easy. To keep things simpler and so I don’t have to write a dissertation for this blog post I’ll try to keep this super brief. The Western Roman Empire gradually weakened over centuries due to political instability, economic problems, civil wars, military challenges, and external pressures. The traditional date of 476AD marks the deposition of the last Western Emperor, but many Roman institutions survived long afterward. Even more importantly, the Eastern Roman Empire (what we now call the Byzantine Empire) continued to exist for nearly another thousand years until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. In other words, Rome didn’t suddenly collapsed, it transformed. Many aspects of Roman law, language, engineering, religion, and government continued to influence Europe long after the Western Empire disappeared (It even helped shape the United States today).

That’s one reason Rome remains so fascinating, in many ways, we’re still living with it’s legacy today!

Legio XIIII, Protinus!