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Feb 19, 2018 at 16:41 comment added TheHonRose The first time I saw a dramatic depiction of this was in the 1959 film of Ben-Hur.
Sep 18, 2013 at 16:34 comment added user2590 @LennartRegebro - perhaps. But if so it probably should say "what he called the Roman Handshake"... anyhow, as you said, this is all pure conjecture.
Sep 18, 2013 at 8:05 comment added Lennart Regebro @Vector It just means Alma-Tadema called it a "Roman Handshake". That doesn't mean he didn't invent it.
Sep 18, 2013 at 4:22 comment added user2590 @LennartRegebro - +1 for excellent research and addressing the question head-on. But "It's probably invented in the theatre to make the handshake look dramatic, and the prime suspect is Alma-Tadema himself..." Your reference seems to indicate otherwise: "He taught the cast the wrist-group of the Roman Handshake" - the language indicates that there was already something known as the "The Roman Handshake" and Alma-Tadema simply taught it to the actors.
Sep 17, 2013 at 18:50 comment added user2590 let us continue this discussion in chat
Sep 17, 2013 at 8:01 comment added Lennart Regebro @Vector: Depends on what you mean with "old". Smells ancient? No. It smells exactly like 19th, possibly 18th century theatrical nonsense. Which is quite "old" of course. Theatrical does not in this case necessarily mean theatres, also indeed secret societies would engage in theatrics. Likewise the claim that it's to check for hidden weapons in the sleeve is a silly later invention. That's a bad place to have weapons.
Sep 17, 2013 at 6:36 history edited Lennart Regebro CC BY-SA 3.0
added 151 characters in body
Sep 17, 2013 at 6:32 comment added Lennart Regebro @Vector: Ah, yes. No I meant that it's attribution as a Roman handshake was later. I'll clarify that. I doubt that the TV series picked it up from a youth subculture, it's more likely they have seen it in some other movie about Romans. Perhaps it was even in Spartacus the movie?
Sep 17, 2013 at 6:07 comment added Lennart Regebro @PieterGeerkens: Yes. I can't find any even remotely reliable-looking source claiming this is one of those.
Sep 17, 2013 at 3:37 comment added Pieter Geerkens Have you checked out secret-society handshakes and recognitions? They are known to date back to the 1700's at least.
Sep 17, 2013 at 3:32 history answered Lennart Regebro CC BY-SA 3.0