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] Funditores(slingers) – oddly, no record of any units is known from the Principate, though slingers are depicted on Trajan’s Column; 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 ] 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]

Alternatively, you may wish to equip your legionaries with gladius or sling. Though slow, slings made for deadly weapons capable of incredible range. a b Roth, Jonathan P. (2009). Roman warfare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521537261. OCLC 231745643. a b c McCall, Jeremiah B. (2005-06-29). The Cavalry of the Roman Republic. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-51817-3.At the Battle of Turin the emperor Constantine I destroyed a numerous force of enemy cataphracts; he manoeuvred his army in such a way that his more lightly armoured and mobile cavalry were able to charge in on the exposed flanks of the cataphracts. Constantine's cavalry were equipped with iron-tipped clubs, ideal weapons for dealing with heavily armoured foes. [7] Development [ edit ] It also could be used by a victorious army sweeping over the battle field, killing all that was left in its way. Repel Cavalry Talbert, Richard (1996): "The Senate and Senatorial and Equestrian Posts". In Cambridge Ancient History 2nd ed., Vol X. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 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] Overall, senators and equites cooperated smoothly in the running of the empire. In contrast to the chaotic civil wars of the late Republic, the rule of this tiny oligarchy achieved a remarkable degree of political stability. In the first 250 years of the Principate (30 BC – AD 218), there was only a single episode of major internal strife: the civil war of 68–69.

It seems that from the start the equestrians in the imperial service were organised on a hierarchical basis reflecting their pay-grades. According to Suetonius, writing in the early part of the second century AD, the equestrian procurators who "performed various administrative duties throughout the empire" were from the time of Emperor Claudius I organised into four pay-grades, the trecenarii the ducenarii, the centenarii, and the sexagenarii, receiving 300,000, 200,000, 100,000, and 60,000 sesterces per annum respectively. [68] Cassius Dio, writing a century later, attributed the beginnings of this process to the first emperor, Augustus, himself. [69] Julius Caesar’s eventual victory in the Gallic Wars would give him the powerbase to eventually reform the republic into an Empire.Vegetius is the only ‘manual’ of the Roman military to have survived ‘intact’. However, we should note that, firstly, Vegetius himself had no military experience whatsoever, and secondly, that his work is a carelessly constructed compilation of material from a vast range of sources and periods, all jumbled together. As such, it is very hard to ‘unscramble’ it enough to make sense of it and to decide which parts are relevant to which era. This again stems largely from Trajan’s column and is down to the ‘convention’ that legionaries are shown in lorica segmentata, whilst auxiliaries aren’t, and that legionaries are shown with the large rectangular scutum (most suitable for fighting in close formation), whilst auxilia are shown with oval shields. Vegetius also does his best to mislead us: “auxilia are always joined as light troops with the legions in the line”. It is true that some specialist units in the auxilia, such as Syrian archers and Numidian cavalry, wore light armour (or none). But they were a small minority of the auxilia. Most auxiliary cohorts contained heavy infantry similar to legionaries – wearing mail and helmets, carrying spears and large shields (though, possibly, oval as opposed to rectangular).

that the main battle-line was the preserve, exclusively, of the legions, being supported on the flanks by the light troops of the auxilia (this would make sense if (ii) above were true – however, as we shall see, it is not);The Romans always relied on their allies to provide cavalry. These were known as the foederati. A typical consular army of the Second Punic War would have much more auxiliary cavalry. As the commoners gained citizenship by the time of Social War and the Legionary cavalry became less, most cavalry were provided by allied nations from Numidia, Greece, Thrace, Iberia, Gaul and Germania. Such as at the Battle of Zama where the majority of cavalry were Numidians. Most of the cavalry in Caesar's campaigns were Gauls and Germans. These units were not part of the regular Roman army and were bound by treaties. These often were armed with their own native equipment and were led by native chiefs. 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.