After reading the article I picked out this sentence:

> The best fighters in the ancient world were essentially vegetarian.

"Essentially vegetarian" is not the same as "vegetarian". I would bet most endurance athletes are "essentially vegetarian" in that they eat way more grains than proteins, but they are not vegetarian in the sense than they have a reason (moral or otherwise) to abstain from meat.

How so? The only thing I assume when somebody tells me they're vegetarian is that they don't eat meat.

That was my take also - when eating 5000 calories that a lot of it is pure carb 'fuel', yes it's a low protein %, but probably a similar protein amount (in grams) to a standard diet.

What, wheat and barley are not vegetarian?

GP's point was:

Maximus's diet consists of 78% cereals and grains and 22% meats. Is Maximus a vegetarian?

There are these things called "vegetables" which some people eat. You may have heard of them?

And then there's dairy (like milk and cheese). Just because someone's diet is vegetarian, it does not mean that they must exclusively eat wheat or barley.

I don't understand, where does it say that the remaining 22% are from meats?

It also doesn't say that the remaining 22% aren't from meat.

> 78%