Panoply in the Roman Republic

[Sean Manning]

In short, I think that Michael Taylor is absolutely right that the 19th and 20th century armies who dressed like Polish Uhlans, African Zouaves, or "Mohawks" were engaged in sympathetic magic not just copying niece pieces of kit. If they dressed like tough, victorious foreigners they might become tough, successful fighters themselves. It is the same logic we see in business books: copy the visible trappings of some famous company (open-plan offices, a charismatic leader with a reality distortion field, agile development, ...) and hope that thereby you copy the indefinable something which makes them rich and their competitors bankrupt.