Any city probably has gangs, and ancient Rome was certainly no exception. They indulged in much the same activities as they have done throughout history, extracting money and fighting other gangs in turf wars. However, the figures in this set are clearly more broadly-based than just gangs, as most of the figures are labelled as rioters. Riots were certainly something Rome was familiar with, and could happen for all sorts of reasons, including food shortages, high prices generally, and bad housing, but an oft-documented reason was political agitation. Particularly in the last few decades of the republic, several politicians thought nothing of inciting a mob to riot in order to achieve some political goal, or it might simply be that the population at large chose to show their displeasure at some event without the need for incitement by anyone. Violent crime was an everyday occurrence in ancient Rome, and while riots were not everyday, they were certainly much more common, and deadlier, than any suffered in the modern era.

The first six poses pictured above are labelled as ‘rioting mob’ on the box. All are dressed as you would find any ordinary citizen of Rome, in a simple belted tunic and Roman shoes (one is barefoot). A couple wear a cloak, and one wears a hat, while another has a cloth tied round his lower face, presumably to disguise his identity, just as rioters do today. A couple carry clubs, while two more have actual swords, so are clearly more serious about their disorder. Another man is about to throw a stone – another time-honoured practice during a disorder – and the sixth has no weapon apart from his fists. All this makes good sense, and we liked all of the figures, although the unarmed man holding his upper arm is a bit random and difficult to understand as a pose, yet perfectly reasonable.

The next two figures are a surprise inclusion. Labelled as gladiator allies, the first man wears a gladiator-style helmet and greaves, with a sort of cutaway garment that is popular in films and TV, but does not appear in the historical record (though of course as performers, gladiators could in theory wear anything they liked). The second man has a belted loin cloth, and also has some form of protection on his lower sword arm. His most distinctive feature, however, is a curious face mask which he wears, which is perhaps again to disguise his identity, though we think this very strange. In fact, the presence of these two is altogether strange, as records do not speak of riots with part-equipped gladiators taking part, much less their using equipment such as armour and shields that they would have in the arena. It could happen perhaps, but we are very dubious that it was nearly common enough to be referenced by such a set, which seems to give way to a considerable extent to dramatic licence.

The final two figures are described by Linear-A as Vigiles Urbani, but this is wrong. Vigiles Urbani were primarily tasked with patrolling the streets of Rome at night in order to detect and fight fires. While they were there, they also dealt with petty crimes such as fights and theft, but they were just night watchmen, and in the event of a riot they were unlikely to get involved. Major disorders were dealt with by the Pretorian Guard in the republican era, and later by the Urban Cohorts, once they were established by Augustus in the first century. These were the men that dealt with major incidents, such as gang battles, and were equipped and armed accordingly. They were given swords (while the vigiles had only clubs), and wore armour and some form of helmet, perhaps metal or leather. The Vigiles were slaves, but the cohorts were all free citizens, considered as equals to legionaries and actually paid more than those in the army. Both the men here answer to the description of Cohorts, but not Vigiles, so Linear-A have mixed up their law-enforcement organisations, despite their being very different. One man is fighting with his sword (though he has been given no scabbard to put it in), while the other holds just a club, and has a lantern in the other hand. Both carry an axe, which makes no sense unless Linear-A are thinking of them as vigiles, so again, some confusion at the design stage.

As always, the quality of sculpting is excellent here, and perfectly rendered by the 3D printing process. Detail is everywhere superb, and the general musculature of the men and folds of the clothing are spot-on. The printing process also means there is no flash, and the poses can have great depth and realism to them without any need for assembly, so lots to like about these figures technically.

There are a handful of observations, some very small, that need to be made. One of the swords carried by a rioter has a distinct 45 degree angle in the blade, making it impossible to use as a stabbing weapon, and also less effective as a slashing one. Probably for this reason we could find no mention of it in real historical sources, though modern films and websites like to label it as a sica, and freely show it as if it were a real Roman item. Also, the first gladiator has a vambrace or similar on his sword arm, but this has no visible means of attachment to the arm. Finally, our eye was caught by the hairstyle of the man throwing the rock, which has a parting towards the right side, and looks very modern to us rather than anything Roman.

Several of these figures are straight copies of 28 mm metal figures sculpted by Paul Hicks for Footsore Miniatures for their Gangs of Rome series, which appears not to concern itself much with historical veracity. However, here we have some great rioter poses with pretty good authenticity, which form the majority of this set, and are fine. The two gladiators have some of the props they use in the arena, but we were really uncomfortable about their historical authenticity in any riot (though many riots were caused by gladiatorial contests, ironically). The two law-keepers are a mashup of two different units, and so are wrong as both. Perhaps more importantly, neither the Vigiles Urbani nor the Urban Cohorts existed as early as 27 BCE, which directly conflicts with the dates given for this set! This spoils what could have been a great set, but the inclination to produce more interesting and dramatic figures seems to have steered the maker away from historical reality, and to us, historical accuracy is very important, so we welcome the first six poses here, but have no use for the other four.