The Roman Cavalry: From the First to the Third Century AD

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Their professionalism led emperors to rely on them ever more heavily, especially in difficult conflicts such as the Marcomannic Wars (166–180). But because they were only equestrians, they could not be appointed to the top military commands, those of legatus Augusti pro praetore (governor of an imperial province, where virtually all military units were deployed) and legatus legionis (commander of a legion). In the later 2nd century, emperors tried to circumvent the problem by elevating large numbers of primipilares to senatorial rank by adlectio. [76]

A minor point on ethnicity and the naming of units – it doesn’t necessarily follow that a unit entitled ‘The Fourth Dacian Wing’ actually had any connections with Dacia whatsoever. Dio Cassius describes how a cavalry unit was formed with the title ‘Batavians’, simply on the basis that Batavians had a reputation for superb horsemanship – there isn’t a shred of evidence that any Batavians ever actually belonged to it. There is evidence that emperors were as wary of powerful equites as they were of senators. Augustus enforced a tacit rule that senators and prominent equestrians must obtain his express permission to enter the province of Egypt, a policy that was continued by his successors. [60] [64] Also, the command of the Praetorian Guard was normally split between two equites, to reduce the potential for a successful coup d'état. At the same time, command of the second military force in Rome, the cohortes urbanae, was entrusted to a senator.Potter, Prof. D.S. (2004). The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180-385. London / New York: Routledge. p.258. In the assembly, the citizen body was divided into 193 centuriae, or voting constituencies. Of these, 18 were allocated to equites (including patricians) and a further 80 to the first class of commoners, securing an absolute majority of the votes (98 out of 193) for the wealthiest echelon of society, although it constituted only a small minority of the citizenry. (The lowest class, the proletarii, rated at under 400 drachmae, had just one vote, despite being the most numerous). [25]

Senators' sons followed a separate cursus honorum (career-path) to other equites before entering the Senate: first an appointment as one of the vigintiviri ("Committee of Twenty", a body that included officials with a variety of minor administrative functions), or as an augur (priest), followed by at least a year in the military as tribunus militum laticlavius (deputy commander) of a legion. This post was normally held before the tribune had become a member of the Senate. Roman kingship: The Roman monarchy, although an autocracy, was not hereditary and based on "divine right", but elective and subject to the ultimate sovereignty of the people. The king ( rex) was elected by the people's assembly (the comitia curiata originally) although there is strong evidence that the process was, in practice, controlled by the patricians. Most kings were non-Romans brought in from abroad, doubtless as neutral figures who could be seen as above patrician factions. Although blood relations could and did succeed, they were still required to submit to election. [8] The position and powers of a Roman king were thus similar to those of Julius Caesar when he was appointed dictator-for-life in 44 BC. That was why Caesar's assassin, Marcus Junius Brutus, felt a moral obligation to emulate his claimed ancestor, Lucius Junius Brutus, "the Liberator", the man who, Roman tradition averred, in 509 BC, led the coup that overthrew the last king, Tarquin the Proud, and established the republic. [9] There is some debate about the strength of the turma between 30 and 32 men. 30 was the size of a turma in the Republican cavalry and in the cohors equitata of the Principate (early empire) auxilia. Against this is a statement by Arrian that an ala was 512 strong. This would make an ala turma 32 men strong. Personally, I suspect it simply comes down to whether one counts the commander and standard bearer, or just the troopers, in the total.

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Information about tactics can be derived from accounts of battles, but the very military manuals known to have existed and to have been used extensively by commanders, have not survived. Perhaps the greatest loss is the book of Sextus Julius Frontinus. But parts of his work were incorporated in the records of the historian Vegetius. It is widely accepted that the Roman monarchy was overthrown by a patrician coup, probably provoked by the Tarquin dynasty's populist policies in favour of the plebeian class. [Note 2] Alfoldi suggests that the coup was carried out by the celeres themselves. [10] According to the Fraccaro interpretation, when the Roman monarchy was replaced with two annually elected praetores (later called "consuls"), the royal army was divided equally between them for campaigning purposes, which, if true, explains why Polybius later said that a legion's cavalry contingent was 300 strong. [11] The period following the end of the Latin War (340–338 BC) and of the Samnite Wars (343–290) saw the transformation of the Roman Republic from a powerful but beleaguered city-state into the hegemonic power of the Italian peninsula. This was accompanied by profound changes in its constitution and army. Internally, the critical development was the emergence of the Senate as the all-powerful organ of state. [17]

Gauthier, François (2020). "The transformation of the Roman army in the last decades of the Republic". In Armstrong, Jeremy; Fronda, Michael P (eds.). Romans at war: soldiers, citizens, and society in the Roman republic. Routledge. p.286. ISBN 978-1-138-48019-3. Baumer, C. (2012) The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors, I.B.Tauris, London ISBN 978-1-78076-060-5Justin Blake: The undoubted highlight from Vindolanda are the amazing writing tablets that we find and these are tiny little postcard sized scraps of birch and alderwood that the Roman soldier have written to each other and further afield with an old fashioned iron pen that they dip into the ink and write straight on top of the bits of wood. As can be seen from the table, there are several different kinds of units. Superficially at least, the infantry cohorts resemble those of the legions – in particular the cohors quingenaria are very similar to the ordinary cohorts of the legions except that the legionary cohort seems not to have had an overall commander – meaning that it was not capable of independent action, unless the legate appointed ‘someone’ to take command – perhaps one of the tribunes or a senior centurion?

The Roman cavalry was certainly not the primary weapon of the Roman army, which heavily relied on its infantry to win battles and wars. However, the cavalry provided several vital services which were essential for expanding Rome's territories.

Spear ( hasta): during the Roman Kingdom and much of the Roman Republic the hasta was used by the cavalry. It was very good when charging into enemy infantry. The system also led to political conflict between equites publicani and the majority of their fellow- equites, especially senators, who as large landowners wanted to minimise the tax on land outside Italy ( tributum solis), which was the main source of state revenue. [41] This system was terminated by the first Roman emperor, Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – 14 AD), who transferred responsibility for tax collection from the publicani to provincial local authorities ( civitates peregrinae). [42] Although the latter also frequently employed private companies to collect their tax quotas, it was in their own interests to curb extortion. During the imperial era, tax collectors were generally paid an agreed percentage of the amount collected. equites publicani became prominent in banking activities such as money-lending and money-changing. [40] Picture of an equestrian dressed in his rank toga and tunic, the angusticlavia. Privileges [ edit ] Alternatively, they could themselves move to the sides and perform an enveloping manoeuver against an opponent. Imperial cavalry (30BC – 476AD) [ edit ] Roman cavalry from a mosaic of the Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, 4th century AD