 Anachronistic stirrups were used to ensure the safety of the actors , though the crew attempted to conceal or camouflage them for historical authenticity , as they were not then used by the Roman cavalry . Extras playing soldiers attended a boot camp under the guidance of a former Royal Marine . Those actors portraying legionnaires learned to fight by thrusting , not slashing their weapons . Artisans reportedly handmade four thousand costumes using authentic period materials such as cotton , linen , wool and silk , all of which were hand @-@ dyed on set . Pullo was originally written to be a poor horse rider , a reflection that " Romans were notoriously bad horsemen , " according to Heller . However , Stevenson turned out to be " probably the best horseman on the show , " so they rewrote this characteristic because bad horsemanship is difficult to fake . 
 Anachronistic stirrups <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>were</mark></a> used to ensure the safety of the actors , though the crew attempted to conceal or camouflage them for historical authenticity , as they <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>were</mark></a> not then used by the Roman cavalry . Extras playing soldiers attended a boot camp under the guidance of a former Royal Marine . Those actors portraying legionnaires learned to fight by thrusting , not slashing their weapons . Artisans reportedly handmade four thousand costumes using authentic period materials such as cotton , linen , wool and silk , all of which <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>were</mark></a> hand @-@ dyed on set . Pullo was originally written to be a poor horse rider , a reflection that " Romans <a href='uninflect' title='4'><mark>were</mark></a> notoriously bad horsemen , " according to Heller . However , Stevenson turned out to be " probably the best horseman on the show , " so they <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>rewrote</mark></a> this characteristic because bad horsemanship <a href='drop_aux' title='6'><mark>is</mark></a>difficult to fake . 
Anachronistic stirrups was used to ensure the safety of da actors , though tdacrew attempted to conceal or camouflage em fa historical authenticity , as they was not then used by the Roman cavalry . Extras playing soldiers attended a boot camp under the guidance of a former Royal Marine . Those actors portraying legionnaires learned to fight by thrusting , not slashing their weapons . Artisans reportedly handmade 4 thousand costumes usin authentic period materials such as cotton , linen , wool and silk , alll of which was hand @-@ dyed on set . Pullo was originally written to be a poor horse rider , a reflection that " Romans was notoriously badd horsemen , " according to Heller . However , Stevenson turned outt to b " probably the best horseman on the show , " soo they rewrite this characteristic becausebaddd horsemanship difficult to fake .