 Although it is usually assumed that the somewhat skimpy battle  scenes were due to director Roger Corman (qv)s legendary  cheapness, Corman had actually arranged for the services of 500  soldiers from the local Greek army garrison. On the morning of  filming, however, only about 50 showed up, and as the day wore on  (and the heat intensified), some of them drifted away. In order to  make it look like there were more "soldiers" than there actually  were, Corman had them march in formation past the camera, then when  out of camera range run around behind the crew and equipment, and  march past the camera again. That is also why the battle scenes are  filmed in close