Why does the Spartan in the Rome 2 Intro trailer wield a Gladius?

[Centurio (Latin)]

I was watching the intro trailer just now and I realised something I hadn't realised before: Why is the spartan hoplite wielding a spanish Gladius?

Here is a pic:

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[alex_shields]

wellll, you see, it's like this:

Since he was trained by CA, he was taught only one fight-style and since all animations were the same for short swords (be it a Gladius, Xiphos, or falcata) it didn't really matter which one he preferred. So, he picked a gladius. Never mind that Spartans didn't really carry gladii.

[Greve Af Göteborg]

Yeah, that's a bit of a blunder.

[-Concrete-]

That dude is back from the Greek Culture pack isn't he? I wouldn't panic just yet.

[BalrogOfMorgoth]

Because he's a general, and spartan general can have corinthian helmet ( Jack lusted macedon's campain show a spartan general with this helmet ).

So i guess the spartan on the pic is not one of the " Heroes of Sparta " but just a general.

[Vassileios]

I'd also ask why he's wearing black and not red.

[Aymer de Valence]

I can see a man in blue pyjamas in the background too. Not on the same level as the pink ones though

[Augustus Scipius]

That footage is from the leaked intro movie.

As much as I hate to use such a usually cheesy argument, it may have still been a work-in-progress by the time it was leaked (end of July I think). You can see falcatas in the Macedonian Let's Play, so they are surely in the game. Furthermore, a lot of the textures look weird in the video.

[Carl Jung was right]

Why are there 5 black stripes on his head crest instead of 7? Why is there a yellow stripe running along the bottom of his skirt? Why doesn't his cuirass have studded gold inlined bibs? Why doesn't the back of his shield have a pair of fluffy pom poms hanging from the rim? Why isn't he wearing a multi-colored bead bracelet on his wrist?

Canceling my pre-order. Seriously CA, come on.

[Rittsy]

Why is there a Spartan in Egypt? Why did he choose to go to Egypt? Does he have a wife and kids back in Sparta? How are they coping with their husband/father being away so long? Is his wife ever tempted by another man? There is a tension between her and her neighbour. Occasionally she catches him staring at her. She knows she should pay no attention, but part of her enjoys it. It makes her feel wanted, needed. Before her husband went to war never in her wildest dreams would she consider straying from her marriage; after-all, they'd been in love since childhood. But with him away, with no one to hold her in those cold, Greek nights...she is tempted. Can we truly blame her for this? She's certain that he strays occasionally, she'd heard stories of him taking every whore in Alexandria after the Spartans stormed the city.

Little does she know her husband has remained faithful. He holds the gladius she gave him, as a constant reminder of her love for him. This love allows him to block out the horrors he had seen. Men he'd fought side-by-side with falling in front of him, their blood staining the sand. She protects him both physically and psychologically.

...or something.

[Sebashaw]

Because TRHIS IS ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME (2).

[sgthunter]

pre-order cancelled!!!!!!

[smoke]

Yes, why? WHY???

CA made me pre-order and buy ALL DLCs!!! But now i am canceling my PREORDER!!!

[BalrogOfMorgoth]

Here : Spartan Generals can have a corinthian helmet !

It's just a general, not a hoplite !

[Vilkas09]

Why are there 5 black stripes on his head crest instead of 7? Why is there a yellow stripe running along the bottom of his skirt? Why doesn't his cuirass have studded gold inlined bibs? Why doesn't the back of his shield have a pair of fluffy pom poms hanging from the rim? Why isn't he wearing a multi-colored bead bracelet on his wrist?

Canceling my pre-order. Seriously CA, come on.

and people like this uneducated fellow are the target audience for CA. I bet these people do not care if romans will use medieval swords.

[Lavrentivs]

Even though its a 'blunder', I doubt it'd be uncommon in the ancient world. There was no sense of uniformity in armies, perhaps traditions like unit designs for shields or something. If I was a Spartan with a chipped Kopis and found a nice gladius on the floor I'd sure as hell take it. Similarly, if my gladius got damaged and I found a falcata, I'd pick it up. There would be an immense variation among troops in this period. In republican Roman armies you would have seen all sorts, spanish swords, hellenistic armour and weapons, you name it. During the principate there appears to be a standardisation of weaponry in the Roman army (but not armour). But I doubt there was any such uniformity in any army in the ancient world.

It's just a tiny mistake that doesn't really matter (despite the fact that the gladius' pattern is actually from the principate era as well - looks like a hybrid of a fulham and a pompeii). It's not a game-breaker.

Also:

1) Its not from the game itself
2) It was leaked without permission from CA, they said they had to put some finishing touches on it apparently, probably correcting stuff like this and going over it all again.

[-Concrete-]

and people like this uneducated fellow are the target audience for CA. I bet these people do not care if romans will use medieval swords.

My experience on this site is that the whiners absolutely do not have a better knowledge of this time period.

[Lavrentivs]

My experience on this site is that the whiners absolutely do not have a better knowledge of this time period.

Seconded. A lot of the knowledge that some of the whiners have is merely based on films and silly stereotypes.

[Prof]

Meh...that will be easy to mod.

[Martz]

and people like this uneducated fellow are the target audience for CA. I bet these people do not care if romans will use medieval swords.

That was pretty obvious sarcasm.