Atherton explains, "I started by looking in books for references to weaponry and armor from this period, but there was not much to be found. So, taking ideas from what we know about subsequent periods and trying to imagine the evolution of certain weapons and armor-with the understanding that they did mainly close-quarter fighting-we were able to come up with some designs and ideas that would have been feasible at that time. I especially enjoyed Ridley's directive to come up with the Roman equivalent of an automatic weapon-the multi-firing crossbow."

Atherton also served as a consultant to costume designer Janty Yates in the function of the helmets and some armor.


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