a digression: "Caractacus's uniform"

The post below references Claudius's subjugation of Britain.
Among the British heroes of this campaign was Caractacus, who was paraded through the streets of Rome as a captive in a formal Roman triumph.

The Modern Major-General in Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance reveals:
"Then I can write a washing-bill in Babylonic cuneiform,
and tell you every detail of Caractacus's uniform."

This has got to be a Victorian inside joke. John H. Foley's 1859 sculpture of Caractacus in front of London's Mansion House suggests that "Caractacus's uniform" was little more than a loin-cloth; memorizing the details of this uniform is NOT that great an achievement!