Most realistic movie depictions of ancient warfare

[Kegluneq]

Why would it be unrealistic? The Romans certainly did deploy their cohorts in rectangular formation, as shown in this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_infan...for_combat

There's no real contradiction in saying both were true. The Romans may have had an ideal conception of how a battle line should be put into place, but the reality of battle would have been much more confused, especially once units got into melee.

It's still anachronistic to show Roman armies marching around perfectly in step with each either though, as seen in HBO's Rome and in that battle scene in Spartacus. That's just how we've expected armies to look since the mechanization of warfare. Simon James and Sara Elise Phang have discussed this issue in length in relation to Roman discipline.