Tim O’Neill reviews Agora — and makes an aside that speaks to hoplophiles:
While the sets were impressively detailed, with Roman and Hellenic elements mixed with Egyptian motifs, the same can’t be said for the costumes, which tended to be “generic ancient tunics and togas” rather than clothing of the specific period. Even less thought was given to the arms and armour of the Roman troops and the warring factions. It seems no-one can make a “Roman” film without equipping Roman soldiers in generic First Century AD helmets, swords and armour, regardless of what century the film is actually set in.
So here the Romans wear what look like left-overs from Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, with brassy-looking pseudo-First Century helmets, short gladius swords and, of course, leather lorica segmentata for armour. It would have been nice for nitpicky obsessives like me to finally see a movie set in the later Roman Period where the soldiers actually look like late Roman troops, but that was probably expecting too much.
