05-20-2013, 05:25 PM
As an additional note
The all red colour scheme, tunic, cloak and crest, is impressive and probably gets blamed on the movies. It can be traced back to the first main epic produced in colour, which was 'Caesar and Cleopatra' made in Britain towards the end of WW2. Production was delayed by flying V1's!!! The legionaries wear all red clothing but the centurions do have blue cloaks, which does have some basis in fact.
It could be seen as a 'British' thing perhaps. After all the empire still existed at that date. British imperialists often thought of themselves as latter day Romans and British stage actors played upper class Romans on screen for many years to come. It would be easy therefore to equate Roman soldiers with British redcoats.
However the use of red clothing can be traced back much earlier beyond the movies. In fact a French publication on historic costume by Racinet (facsimiles are readily available ) shows the classic all red look!
Nevertheless if you study western art, Romans are generally depicted in some form of red clothing back until the paintings of Mantegna. By that date we are very close to the fall of Constantinople and Byzantine art, in particular the icons, show many roman characters such as the 'Centurion' and the soldiers who crucified Christ. The majority of these wear red clothing, although the Centurion character often has a blue cloak!
The Roman images themselves I have listed in my own book but I did put some of these together with a collection of pictures of paintings and scenes from movies for papers at the RAT conference in York and a conference organised by the V&A Museum in London a few years back.
Graham.
The all red colour scheme, tunic, cloak and crest, is impressive and probably gets blamed on the movies. It can be traced back to the first main epic produced in colour, which was 'Caesar and Cleopatra' made in Britain towards the end of WW2. Production was delayed by flying V1's!!! The legionaries wear all red clothing but the centurions do have blue cloaks, which does have some basis in fact.
It could be seen as a 'British' thing perhaps. After all the empire still existed at that date. British imperialists often thought of themselves as latter day Romans and British stage actors played upper class Romans on screen for many years to come. It would be easy therefore to equate Roman soldiers with British redcoats.
However the use of red clothing can be traced back much earlier beyond the movies. In fact a French publication on historic costume by Racinet (facsimiles are readily available ) shows the classic all red look!
Nevertheless if you study western art, Romans are generally depicted in some form of red clothing back until the paintings of Mantegna. By that date we are very close to the fall of Constantinople and Byzantine art, in particular the icons, show many roman characters such as the 'Centurion' and the soldiers who crucified Christ. The majority of these wear red clothing, although the Centurion character often has a blue cloak!
The Roman images themselves I have listed in my own book but I did put some of these together with a collection of pictures of paintings and scenes from movies for papers at the RAT conference in York and a conference organised by the V&A Museum in London a few years back.
Graham.
"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allan Poe.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
