The Ancient War Uniforms Fallacy

A common misconception, arising from children’s history books, Hollywood movies and real-time strategy video games (such as the scene above from ROME: Total War) is that pre-modern battles were fought by two sides with clearly distinct uniforms and easily distinguishable colors. This was in fact very rare—with the exception of some highly professional military forces such as those of the Roman and Ottoman Empires, peasant garb was the norm for most soldiers on history’s battlefields. How, then, did soldiers distinguish friend from foe on a complex battlefield?

Uniforms were rare, and color-coded outfits that we are accustomed to seeing on screen were unusual. Sometimes soldiers would wear a marking, ribbon, armband, or even a number to distinguish them from the enemy. But even if they had armor, that didn’t make it a uniform. For example, the terracotta army discovered in the tomb of the first Emperor of Chin revelas seven styles of armour, which do not appear to have been standardised within separate units.

Language and race could sometimes make differentiating between sides easy, but not always. Mercenaries have been common throughout war in human history, from the Greeks soldiers who fought for Persia during the time of Xerxes to the French Foreign Legion that fought its colonial wars.

And what about civil wars? During the English Civil War in the 17th century between monarchists and parliamentarians, soldiers from each side would be given a “watchword” for each seige and battle. This word would be known only by those fighting on the same side. In an isolated confrontation, an opponent would be challenged with the watchword and if unable to answer, would be regarded as the enemy and treated as such. In the US Civil War, in some battles soldiers would enter the field with numbers pinned on their backs, both to distinguish them and to make arranging the body count after the war easier.

Not until the 19th century and the rise of the state and nationalism did uniforms for soldiers become common. That complication is worth keeping in mind when you watch your next epic battle scene or play a video game.