Movies portraying the ancient civilizations, such as Rome, Greece, Egypt and many of Mankind’s early civilizations around the middle East are affectionately referred to as sword and sandals movies because that is effectively what most of the character will be dressed in and alludes to the subject matter.

We like to think of the times of the Roman and Greek civilizations as particularly brutal eras when there was lots a fighting and the major incidents that defined the time was a battle here or there or a bloody overthrow of a king or emperor. To some extent this is true. History only really remembers the decisive moments but if you think that the roman civilization lasted around 2000 years there must have been long periods when things were pretty cruisey. Nothing really happened and life just went on.

But seeing as it’s Halloween, we don’t want to remember those times, we want to remember the battles in the Coliseum where gladiators fight to the death. Or maybe we want to think of the Roman army taking on the Gauls or the Ancient Britons. Costumes reflecting this part of Roman history would look much better at a party or such like. I’m thinking or things like Roman soldier costumes, gladiator costumes or even Roman warrior costumes.

A Roman soldier costume would reflect the uniform worn by the Imperial Roman army. There were all sorts of units and ranks in the Roman army and consequently their outfits would look different.

The standard issue Roman infantry man costume is pretty hard to get unless you want to pay plenty of cash. Costume shops don’t go to that detail and the real armor would not be practical in a social setting.

So a typical roman soldier costume that you will find in a costume shop or online will have a tunic or toga undergarment and various pieces of molded plastic armor. It can look quite realistic from a distance (and even close up in some instances) but is easier to wear and more comfortable.

The roman warrior costume is probably another name for gladiator in fact. Gladiators could wear all manner of outfits. Again, this would depend on their location, who or what they were fighting and possibly even their status in the gladiator ranks.

Costumes in warmer climes might even be as simple as a loin cloth and some protective armor around the arms, legs and head. The premier gladiatorial contests held in the Coliseum in Rome might see the gladiators more well dressed or even dressed in a certain theme.

For instance, gladiator entertainment at the Coliseum would often recreate events and exploits from Roman history. Famous battle would be recreated involving the Roman army and some vanquished foe, like the Gauls or Britons. Gladiators might play the role of the Roman army and actual prisoners from these defeated nations might play themselves in a fight to the death.

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