Sword moving from right to left

[Renatus]

Well no, they are Egyptian, Philistine, and al the other bad guys from the bible, but that does not mean the artist did not model them after the Roman troops in Dura. The Jews had no inhibitions using Romans for their bad guys, see the vain attempts of Julian to mobilise the Babylonian Jews against the Persians, who however still hated the Romans for their destruction of Jerusalem and fought valiantly against his troops alongside the Persians.

Of course I was not suggesting that they might actually be Roman. I'll rephrase my question: 'But are they even modelled on Romans?' The problem with your argument is that, as they are guarding the Ark of the Covenant, they are the good guys.