Why are the Romans red?

[Gugg]

In every single tv series, games etc. the romans are depicted as red. Why is this? How do we know they red? Did they really wear red garmets as shown in all the games and games? And how do we know this? Will someone with knowledge please answer this.

[ray243]

In every single tv series, games etc. the romans are depicted as red. Why is this? How do we know they red? Did they really wear red garmets as shown in all the games and games? And how do we know this? Will someone with knowledge please answer this.

It is mainly because the older Hollywood movies depicted the Romans wearing red clothes all the time. This has influence a whole generation of TV producers, artist, video game designers and costume designers that red is a colour associated with the Romans.

[RedGuard]

It is mainly because the older Hollywood movies depicted the Romans wearing red clothes all the time. This has influence a whole generation of TV producers, artist, video game designers and costume designers that red is a colour associated with the Romans.

its also because red is the color of Mars because red is the color of blood. The Romans called themselves the sons of Mars so....

Red was also the soldier's color in ancient Rome. The color red helped identify to the public that the man wearing was a soldier and not ordinary citizens.

[Kitsunegari]

^^agree, the association of Mars, god of war, with red.

[The Kybrothilian]

Standardization of red color in the Roman army came only during the later republican period I think. Possibly during the time of Scipio Africanus already, but most likely only at the time of Marius.

[Diocle]

Standardization of red color in the Roman army came only during the later republican period I think. Possibly during the time of Scipio Africanus already, but most likely only at the time of Marius.

Kybro while we cannot exclude the red as a dyeing color for the Roman tunics, there is nothing to prove that the Romans ever standardized the use of colored tunics......I don't know from where you got this information .....

the Romans probably used undied or bleached tunics that cannot be considered in any way 'uniforms' nor standardized....

[Kraut]

In every single tv series, games etc. the romans are depicted as red.

But... but... but in "Asterix" they are depicted wearing green tunics

[Sphere]

IIRC there are sources saying roman soldiers on campaign (but not in battle) would wear sagums, which could be dyed red, particularly for officers. I don't think the red tunics which seem to be omnipresent in modern depictions have any basis in historical sources. Indeed, Caesars red cape supposedly stood out in battle which would suggest that red was uncommon in terms of the battle dress of the 1st century BC roman army.


Sagum



Tunic

[The Kybrothilian]

Kybro while we cannot exclude the red as a dyeing color for the Roman tunics, there is nothing to prove that the Romans ever standardized the use of colored tunics......I don't know from where you got this information .....

the Romans probably used undied or bleached tunics that cannot be considered in any way 'uniforms' nor standardized....

TBH, I know nothing.

[ray243]

its also because red is the color of Mars because red is the color of blood. The Romans called themselves the sons of Mars so....

Red was also the soldier's color in ancient Rome. The color red helped identify to the public that the man wearing was a soldier and not ordinary citizens.

Sources for this? Colour dyes are expensive in the ancient Mediterranean world. The notion of using colour dyes as part of the uniform is a fairly modern concept.

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

Its believed that red or off-white, because red was the cheapest color other than off-white (which was natural color) was the most common color, but there is evidence for blue, green, etc tunics as well. There was no standardized color in the Roman Army - it was whatever you could afford most probably.

As for soldiers wearing the red toga in the city of rome, if thats what you're referring to, I know of no evidence for that other than wikipedia.

[Ima Farmathar]

i think they should be pink since that was the color used by the upper classes.
https://www.google.com.mx/search?saf...%3B1449%3B1388

[RedGuard]

Its believed that red or off-white, because red was the cheapest color other than off-white (which was natural color) was the most common color, but there is evidence for blue, green, etc tunics as well. There was no standardized color in the Roman Army - it was whatever you could afford most probably.

As for soldiers wearing the red toga in the city of rome, if thats what you're referring to, I know of no evidence for that other than wikipedia.

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Roman-Military-Clothing-%281%29_9781841764870

Agreed
A good book to read if interested in different Rome clothing. they say in there that roman soldier's weren't allowed to be in battle regalia in italy and roman centurians were not allowed to wear their Red cloaks in rome or any other Italian city.

[Caesar Germanico]

IIRC there are sources saying roman soldiers on campaign (but not in battle) would wear sagums, which could be dyed red, particularly for officers. I don't think the red tunics which seem to be omnipresent in modern depictions have any basis in historical sources. Indeed, Caesars red cape supposedly stood out in battle which would suggest that red was uncommon in terms of the battle dress of the 1st century BC roman army.


Sagum



Tunic

IIRC Caesar had a purple cape, not red.

[Col. Tartleton]

Romans wear Madder Red because British wear Madder Red. It looks sharp.

Roman soldiers almost certainly wore predominantly (originally) white clothing although it wasn't regulated with lightning, wings, and laurel symbols, and Praetorians seem to have worn navy blue and used night sky insignia like lightning, wings, moons and stars. I'd argue for the aesthetics being day and night if anything.

Red is as good a color as any, but they weren't regulated.

[Diocle]

Think, that the Trajan Column was entierely coloured......



Color reconstruction hypothesis of Trajan's column based on a series of scientific analysis still underway: morphological examinations of samples, mineral-petrographic examinations, pictures at ultraviolet, infrared, scanning electronic microscopy, are meant to determine "extension, type and composition of colours".





The stele of Cecilius Avitus, Optio of legio XX Valeria Victrix from Chester (GB) is one of the rare finds that claims had preserved traces of the original pigments and that archaeologists have restored: the tunic (a long sleeved Caracalla) is grey, while Pandey is brown.




Among the representations linked with certainty to the Romans, the fresco in Pompeii called the ' judgement of Solomon ' shows a soldier with a red tunic and two with white tunics.



images and texts from the Iatlian Site 'Ars Dimicandi'.



Anyway I like the Red, for the wargamers like me one of the best things of British History are those wonderful small regiments of the Civil War all clad in blue, red, yellow, white, black, brown, purple, green, grey, orange, many with colored facing, if not the first uniforms of history at least the most colorful of the XVII century for sure.....the Britons were and are mad, but what a wonderful form of madness!

Sadly I dubt the Romans were so mad to dye in different colors the various units.....

[Scruff Dog]

Because red looked cool, yellow or blue probably wouldn't.

[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus]

What i allready posted in the other thread of yours in the general discussion forum.

Über die Farben der militärischen Tuniken liegen wenige handfeste Indizien vor. Sicher ist nur, dass die durchweg roten Tuniken, die heute in einer breiten Öffentlichkeit das Bild vom römischen Soldaten prägen, nicht den antiken Verhältnissen entsprechen. Sie sind nur deshalb in der heutigen Wahrnehmung so dominant, weil sie bei den weit verbreiteten Rekonstruktionszeichnungen P. Connolys asl vorherrschende Kleidung auftauchen und so von den meisten Reenactment Gruppen übernommen wurden.
Zwar liegen nur wenige antike Farbanlagen vor, diese gehen aber alle in die Richtung weiß bzw. rötlich weiß. Bei ägyptischen Mumienportäts des 2. und 3. Jhs z.B. sind Offiziere, wahrscheinlich Centurionen, mit blendend weißen Tuniken dargestellt. Auch sonst überwiegen bei den wenigen erhaltenen Farbangaben bei bildlichen Darstellungen weiße bzw. bräunliche Töne. So scheinen eher weiße bzw. naturfarbende bis braune Wolltuniken die Standartkleidung gewesen zu sein, nicht die rot gefärbten.
Im modernen Experiment durch Studenten der Universität Regensburg hat es sich angeblich als besser erwiesen, wegen der starken Verschmutzung einer weißen Tunika durch Metallabrieb am Panzer gedecktere Farben zu verwenden. Allerdings wurden in diesem Fall (wenn ich das Foto richtig interpretiere) Tuniken aus Leinen verwendet, die sich dann nicht mehr suaber waschen ließen. Bei Wolltuniken wäre dies so nicht der Fall gewesen. Wie auch immer- es ist nicht ausgeschlossen, dass bei besonderen Anlässen auch von Soldaten blendend weiße oder andersfarbige Tuniken getragen worden sind, jedenfalls andere als beim Einsatz.

Fischer, Thomas: Die Armee der Caesaren. Geschichte und Archäologie, Regensburg 2012, p. 114-115.

Fast translation by google translator. Not perfect but it should be understandable:

About the colors of military tunics are few tangible clues. The only certainty is that the consistently red tunics that today characterize the image of the Roman soldiers in the general public, do not match the antique fair. They are so dominant because they were appearing at the widespread reconstruction drawings P. Connolys asl prevailing clothing and so adopted by most reenactment groups only because in today's perception.
Although, there are few antique color systems, but these all go in the direction of white or reddish white. In Egyptian Mummyportäts of 2th and 3th Century example officers are likely centurions, shown with dazzling white tunics. Otherwise outweigh the few remaining color with pictorial representations white or brownish tones. So, rather white or natural color to brown border wooltunics seem to have been the default clothing, not the red-colored.
In the modern experiment by students at the University of Regensburg has allegedly proved better to use more muted colors because of the strong contamination of a white tunic with metal debris on the tank. However, in this case (if I interpret the picture correctly) tunics made ​​of linen used, which then no longer allowed to wash suaber. In wooltunic this would not have been the case. Anyway, it is not excluded that on special occasions, also of soldiers dazzling white or different colored tunics were worn, in any case other than the use.

Conlusion: The large use of red has it's origin by connolly, but it is more an artificial choice than a historical one.

[Kaiser Nonsense]

They also found armours and ancient artefacts that shows us the Roman Army colour was red, and there is the colour of Mars too.

[Mangalore]

They also found armours and ancient artefacts that shows us the Roman Army colour was red, and there is the colour of Mars too.

The question is not so much whether the Romans had red as a color but whether other regions didn't. Red as representation of blood and thus associated with manliness, bravery and war does exist in a lot of civilizations so it would be more interesting if Celts/Greeks/Persians/Phoenicians didn't have a very similar color scheme to express martial prowess in state insignia concerning war.

The question should be if Romans were "redder" than other societies.

When we see the uniforms of the 18th century the preferred color schemes seem to be red and blue on white/natural color but mainly because those colors were easy and cheap to dye.