A band of 20 ancient warriors, fully decked out in period attire, made a surprise appearance at Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and even hopped on a bus past Big Ben, much to the amusement of commuters and tourists.

This spectacle was part of a promotional stunt for the upcoming release of the blockbuster Gladiator II on November 15. The event was marked with a grand collaboration on the world-renowned Piccadilly Lights, where adverts for Gladiator II, Lego, Trainline, TK-MAX and Samsung morphed into Roman-inspired stone.

The costumes seen on London’s streets are authentic outfits from the production of the new film. Over 2,000 costumes were crafted for the Hollywood blockbuster by lead designer Dave Crossman and his team, including the outfit worn by Paul Mescal’s character, Lucius.

The team also designed the attire for the Roman military and 150 gladiator costumes, each boasting its own unique design in the film. Creating these costumes required the skills of various cutters, makers, leather workers, metal workers, jewellers, and embroiderers to bring the outfits to life.

Dave Crossman commented: “I wanted to do proper-looking gladiators. I looked at mosaics and contemporary references from the time. They usually wore quilted padding on their arms and legs for protection, because armour was too expensive. The Roman military has basic soldiers, centurions, and supervising officers. Higher-ranking officers wore expensive scale armour or chain mail, and the rest of the troops fought in segmented armour.”