Quote Originally Posted by Lonely Soldier

All I can say is U G L Y units! OMG they were hideous.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I am almost certain that the colours are not historically accurate in some cases.

It is my understanding that purple colouring could only be gathered from a particular type of shellfish in those days, and that the process of making purple dye was both labour intensive and VERY expensive. In brief, there is no way that an entire Roman battlegroup could be outfitted in purple regalia. Hence, purple was known as a "royal colour" because only nobility, or the very rich, could afford a touch of purple on their garments.

Maybe Orda Khan or one of the other historians could confirm this, but I'm pretty sure that such was the case back then.