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

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When the Republic transitioned into the Empire, Augustus restored to each Roman legion a small citizen cavalry force (recruited from the legionaries themselves) of 120 men. [39] [40] There is similar uncertainty as to whether cavalrymen carried shields, despite the fact that many Roman military tombstones depict equites with oval shields on the left side of their horses (not generally used by Greek cavalry until after ca. 250BC) and the related question of whether they carried long lances or shorter spears, the doru mentioned by Polybius. [17] [23] Most representations show cavalrymen with the parma equestris, a flat type of shield, but the Ahenobarbus monument of 122BC and the coin of 136BC both show cavalrymen without shields. Sidnell suggests that since equites were expected to provide their own equipment they may have chosen their own type and combination of armour and weapons (e.g., long lance with no shield or short spear with shield), [20] [ full citation needed] but the evidence is too scant to draw any firm conclusions. Before the invention of full plate armour in the High Middle Ages, all combatants would carry shields as a vital piece of equipment. In addition to the regular auxiliary units, there were a number of units which had particular functions. In the days of the Roman Republic, there were just three types: Balearic slingers, Cretan archers and Numidian light cavalry. Equestrians were also the chief financial officers (also called procuratores Augusti) of the imperial provinces, and the deputy financial officers of senatorial provinces. At Rome, equestrians filled numerous senior administrative posts such as the emperor's secretaries of state (from the time of Claudius, e.g. correspondence and treasury) and the praefecti annonae (director of grain supplies). [55]

Centuries of capital accumulation, in the form of vast landed estates ( latifundia) across many provinces resulted in enormous wealth for most senators. Many received annual rents in cash and in kind of over 5,000lbs of gold, equivalent to 360,000 solidi (or 5 million Augustan-era denarii), at a time when a miles (common soldier) would earn no more than four solidi a year in cash. Even senators of middling wealth could expect an income 1,000–1,500lbs of gold. [87] Augustus, for the first time, allowed the sons of senators to wear the tunica laticlavia (tunic with broad purple stripes that was the official dress of senators) on reaching their majority even though they were not yet members of the Senate. [46] Imperial cavalry (30BC – 476AD) [ edit ] Roman cavalry from a mosaic of the Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, 4th century AD Presenter: The fort here at Vindolanda was the home to 800 soldiers and their job was to guard the wall against people they described as barbarians. The included rulebook contains all the rules for the game, as well as scenarios tailored for every warband. There is huge scope for customisation with the expansive campaign progression system. This set provides an ideal starting point for Caesar’s Legions collection.Spolia opima: The highest form of spolia duci hostium detracta were known as the spolia opima (rich spoils), which were displayed in the Temple of Jupiter Feretrius in Rome. According to the most widely understood version of the tradition, to earn the spolia opima one had to be a Roman commander-in-chief who killed the enemy paramount leader in single combat. The spolia opima was won only three times: by Romulus for killing Acro, king of the Caeninenses ( c. 750 BC); by Aulus Cornelius Cossus for killing Lars Tolumnius, king of the Veientes (in 437 or 425 BC); and by Marcus Claudius Marcellus for killing Viridomarus, king of the Celtic Gaesatae (in 222 BC). [31] However, the award to Cossus was a matter for some controversy, as, according to Livy, he was only a tribunus militum, and not commander-in-chief of the army at the time. [32] A minority tradition, originally preserved by Marcus Terentius Varro, antiquarian of the late republic, held that spolia opima could be won by any Roman soldier who killed the enemy leader in battle. [33] According to Varro, there were three classes of spolia opima: first class, spoils taken by the Roman commander-in-chief, which alone could be dedicated to Jupiter Feretrius; second class, spoils taken by a Roman officer; and third class, those taken by a common soldier. [34] In conclusion, there were few significant differences in training, fighting capability or tactical role between legionary infantry and their auxiliary counterparts – it seems as though either could fight in the main battle- line or act as light infantry. I suspect that the auxiliaries were often given the ‘dirty jobs’ where taking a few casualties wouldn’t matter (it was probably bad form to get citizens killed unnecessarily). The legions, on the other hand, were more or less guaranteed to be reliable and would be used where success was imperative, regardless of casualties. Theodor Mommsen argues that the royal cavalry was drawn exclusively from the ranks of the patricians ( patricii), the aristocracy of early Rome, which was purely hereditary. [6] Apart from the traditional association of the aristocracy with horsemanship, the evidence for this view is the fact that, during the republic, six centuriae (voting constituencies) of equites in the comitia centuriata (electoral assembly) retained the names of the original six royal cavalry centuriae. [4] [Note 1] These are very likely the " centuriae of patrician nobles" in the comitia mentioned by the lexicologist Sextus Pompeius Festus. If this view is correct, it implies that the cavalry was exclusively patrician (and therefore hereditary) in the regal period. (However, Cornell considers the evidence tenuous). [7] Early Republic (509–338 BC) [ edit ] Giving your army missile capability is another facet of the Auxiliary’s flexibility. We have two types of Auxiliary archers available – the Western Archers, dressed in traditional Roman gear above… Talbert, Richard (1996): "The Senate and Senatorial and Equestrian Posts". In Cambridge Ancient History 2nd ed., Vol X. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Now, for the Romans, barbarians were local tribes who lived on the other side of the wall in what’s now, northern England and Scotland. 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] Sagittarii (archers) – alae sagittariiorum (mounted archers), cohors sagittariiorum and cohors sagittariiorum equitatae (mixed mounted and foot archers) – just one unit is listed for Britannia, The First Cohort of Hamian Bowmen; Nevertheless, Roman and allied cavalry continued to form an essential part of a Roman army's line-up for over a century. They were again, less successful against elusive tribal cavalry, such as the Lusitanians under Viriathus in their bitter resistance to Roman rule (151-140BC) and the Numidians themselves under king Jugurtha during the latter's rebellion (112-105BC), when they were obliged to rely heavily on their own Numidian allied horse [33] [ full citation needed] and the Romans were deprived of their strongest cavalry. In the late 4th and in the 5th century, therefore, the senatorial class at Rome and Constantinople became the closest equivalent to the equo publico equestrian class of the early Principate. It contained many ancient and illustrious families, some of whom claimed descent from the aristocracy of the Republic, but had, as described, lost almost all political and military power. [85] Nevertheless, senators retained great influence due to their enormous inherited wealth and their role as the guardians of Roman tradition and culture. [86]

COMMUNAL LIVING

These ranged from egregii or sexagenarii (salary of 60,000 sesterces = 15,000 denarii) to the eminentissimi (most exalted), limited to the two commanders of the Praetorian Guard and, with the establishment of Diocletian's Tetrarchy, the four praefecti praetorio (not to be confused with the commanders of the Praetorian Guard in Rome) that assisted the tetrarchs, each ruling over a quarter of the empire. [80] Idle aristocracy (4th century) [ edit ] Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pollo excelled as members of the 11th legion and came to the attention of Caesar when their rivalry came to a head during a battle against the Nervii. Any of these heroes are extremely powerful and provide a powerful boon to your warband. As you can see we have plastic multi-part Roman Auxilia and they come with a stunning metal command group of Centurion, Optio, Cornicen and Signifer. a b Sabin, Lecturer Department of War Studies Philip; Sabin, Philip; Whitby, Michael Jeffrey; Wees, Hans van; Whitby, Michael (2007-12-06). The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78274-6.

In 218 BC, the lex Claudia restricted the commercial activity of senators and their sons, on the grounds that it was incompatible with their status. Senators were prohibited from owning ships of greater capacity than 300 amphorae (about seven tonnes) – this being judged sufficient to carry the produce of their own landed estates but too small to conduct large-scale sea transportation. [37] 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. a b c McCall, Jeremiah B. (2005-06-29). The Cavalry of the Roman Republic. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-51817-3. The Second Punic War placed unprecedented strains on Roman manpower, not least on the over 10,000+ drachmae First Class, which provided the cavalry. During Hannibal's march through Italy (218-6BC), thousands of Roman cavalrymen were killed on the battlefield. The losses were especially serious for the knights properly so-called ( equo publico): Livy relates how, after Cannae, the gold rings of dead Roman knights formed a pile one modius (ca. 9 litres) large. [29] In the succeeding years 214-203BC, the Romans kept at least 21 legions in the field at all times, in Roman territories (and 25 legions in the peak year). [30] [ full citation needed] This would have required the knights to provide 220 senior officers (120 tribuni militum, 60 decuriones and 60 praefecti sociorum). It was probably from this time that the 18 centuriae of knights became largely an officer class, while the 6,300 Roman cavalrymen required were raised from the rest of the First Class. It is widely agreed that the 12 new centuriae were open to non-patricians. [13] Thus, from this date if not earlier, not all equites were patricians. The patricians, as a closed hereditary caste, steadily diminished in numbers over the centuries, as families died out. Around 450 BC, there are some 50 patrician gentes (clans) recorded, whereas just 14 remained at the time of Julius Caesar (dictator of Rome 48–44 BC), whose own Iulii clan was patrician. [14]As hoplite warfare was the standard early in this era, cavalry might have not played a substantial role in battle except for chasing after routed enemies. [11] Republican cavalry (338–88BC) [ edit ] North face of the Mausoleum of Glanum, southern France, showing a cavalry battle, c. 40 BC Recruitment [ edit ] It was at that moment that horse and rider would be at their most vulnerable against the ranks behind the first line of infantry which would then hurl their spears at them. Given the short distance and the training legionaries received, it is likely such halted c