Probably for comfort reasons...and who knows, maybe they got a deal on those...or better yet, recycled them from some other sword and sandal pic. Either way, when I watch movies like this, it is always important to me that the main lead look 'cool'...but I think I would like to see a movie done that was done w/historicity in mind just to see what they come up with, and then have historians critique them or even better, have them on as consultants.