Roman cavalry
Romulus supposedly established a cavalry regiment of 300 men called the Celeres to act as his personal escort. Each of the three tribes supplied a centuria, which was a company of 100 men. This royal cavalry regiment was doubled in size to 600 men by King Tarquinius Priscus during his conventional dates from 616 to 578 BC. Livy records that Servius Tullius also established a further 12 centuriae of cavalry, though this is unlikely. Such an increase would have raised the cavalry to 1,800 horse, which is implausibly large compared to 8,400 infantry. In peninsular Italy, cavalry typically constituted about 8% of a field army. Based on figures in Polybius II.24, the early Republic cavalry remained 600-strong with two legions each having 300 horse. The royal cavalry may have been drawn exclusively from the ranks of the patricians, the aristocracy of early Rome. Since the cavalry was probably a patrician preserve, it likely played a critical part in the overthrow of the monarchy. Alfoldi suggests that the coup was carried out by the Celeres themselves.
As their name implies, the equites were required to serve up to 10 years of service in the cavalry between the ages of 17 and 46. Equites originally provided a legion's entire cavalry contingent, although from an early stage, when equites numbers had become insufficient, large numbers of young men from the First Class of commoners volunteered for the service. This role was considered more glamorous than the infantry. By the time of the Second Punic War, it is likely that all members of the First Class served in the cavalry. Livy states that members of Class I were required to equip themselves with a round shield rather than the oblong shield required of other classes. It appears that equites equo privato were required to pay for their own equipment and horse. The state would refund the cost if the horse was killed in action. Cavalrymen in service were paid a drachma per day, triple the infantry rate. They were liable to a maximum of ten campaigning seasons' military service compared to sixteen for the infantry. Each Polybian legion contained a cavalry contingent of 300 horse which does not appear to have been officered by an overall commander. The cavalry contingent was divided into 10 turmae of 30 men each. Squadron members elected three decuriones as their officers.
The earliest extant representations of Roman cavalrymen are found on coins dated to the era of the Second Punic War between 218 and 201 BC. In one coin, the rider wears a variant of a Corinthian helmet and appears to wear greaves on his legs. His body armour is obscured by his small round shield known as the parma equestris. A coin of 197 BC shows a Roman cavalryman in Hellenistic composite cuirass and helmet. Mail had certainly been adopted by ca. 150 BC as Polybius states that the First Class were expected to provide themselves with mail cuirasses. The monument erected at Delphi by L. Aemilius Paullus commemorating his victory at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC depicts Roman cavalrymen in mail. However, a coin of 136 BC and the Lacus Curtius bas-relief show horsemen in composite bronze cuirasses. The Roman saddle was one of the earliest solid-treed saddles in the West. It was of the four horn design first used by the Romans as early as the 1st century BC. Neither design had stirrups.
Philip Sidnell argues that the record shows that Roman cavalry in Republican times were a strong force which bested higher reputed cavalry of the time. Examples include the Heraclea battle in 280 BC where the Roman cavalry dismayed the enemy leader Pyrrhus. They gained the advantage in a bitterly contested melee against Thessalian cavalry then regarded as some of the finest in the Western world. They were only driven back when Pyrrhus deployed his elephants which panicked the Roman horses. Other examples include the Equites' victory over the vaunted Gallic horse at Telamon and Sentinum. They fought against the Germanic cavalry of the Teutons and Cimbri at Vercellae. Contrary to popular depiction, these encounters were primary decided by the success of the Roman cavalry who crushed enemies mounted forces before falling on infantry flanks. A key reason for historians disparagement were crushing defeats at Trebia and Cannae suffered at the hands of Hannibal during his invasion of Italy from 218 to 6 BC. These losses were rendered possible because of a powerful Carthaginian cavalry force. The Roman cavalry failed against Hannibal's nimble Numidian light cavalry whose hit and run tactics exasperated them.
By the end of the 1st century BC citizen cavalry disappeared completely from the Roman army and was replaced by foreign auxiliaries. The Jugurthine War is the last war in which Roman and Italian confederate cavalry is attested as having played a significant part. After that, references to the citizen cavalry become rare and the Roman army seems to have become largely dependent on non-citizen cavalry. Citizen legionary cavalry was abolished and entirely replaced by native allied cavalry. This process may have happened gradually as a result of the grant of Roman citizenship to all of Rome's Italian confederates after the Social War between 91 and 87 BC. For the cavalry, the abolition of the alae had the radical result of reducing the Roman cavalry to just a quarter of its previous size. Legionary cavalry was thus reduced to a fraction of a Roman army's overall cavalry complement. A consular army of two legions now contained about 4,000 horse of which at most only 600 were Romans. By the time of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars from 58 to 50 BC, it appears that legionary cavalry may have disappeared altogether.
When the Republic transitioned into the Empire, Augustus restored to each Roman legion a small citizen cavalry force of 120 men recruited from the legionaries themselves. Augustus also made a regular Auxilia corps of non-citizen soldiers. These professional Roman soldiers were subjects recruited from non-citizens in provinces controlled by Rome with strong native cavalry traditions. Arrian describes them as well-equipped and performing well-executed manoeuvres. A typical cavalryman of the ala would be paid 20 percent more than a typical citizen legionary. Roman Auxilia cavalry were usually heavily armored in mail and armed with a short lance javelins spatha long swords and sometimes bows for specialist horse archer units. These men primarily served as medium missile cavalry for flanking scouting skirmish and pursuit. As opposed to modern units where horses were kept separate, Roman cavalry housed riders and horses in the same barracks. Gallienus in 260 created a mobile reserve cavalry corps to respond to empire threats. Large numbers of heavily armored cavalry units such as cataphractarii and clibinarii started to appear by the 4th century responding to Persian cavalry known as Grivpanvar.
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Common questions
When did Romulus establish the Roman cavalry regiment called Celeres?
Romulus established the Roman cavalry regiment of 300 men called the Celeres as his personal escort during the early founding period of Rome. This royal cavalry regiment was later doubled in size to 600 men by King Tarquinius Priscus between 616 and 578 BC.
What were the service requirements for equites in the Roman Republic?
Equites were required to serve up to 10 years of service in the cavalry between the ages of 17 and 46. They received a drachma per day which was triple the infantry rate and served a maximum of ten campaigning seasons compared to sixteen for the infantry.
How did Roman cavalry equipment evolve from the Second Punic War to 150 BC?
The earliest extant representations of Roman cavalrymen appear on coins dated to the era of the Second Punic War between 218 and 201 BC showing Corinthian helmets and small round shields. Mail had certainly been adopted by ca. 150 BC as Polybius states that the First Class were expected to provide themselves with mail cuirasses.
Why did Roman cavalry fail against Hannibal during the invasion of Italy from 218 to 6 BC?
The Roman cavalry failed against Hannibal's nimble Numidian light cavalry whose hit and run tactics exasperated them. These losses were rendered possible because of a powerful Carthaginian cavalry force that defeated Roman forces at battles like Trebia and Cannae.
When did citizen cavalry disappear completely from the Roman army?
By the end of the 1st century BC citizen cavalry disappeared completely from the Roman army and was replaced by foreign auxiliaries. The Jugurthine War is the last war in which Roman and Italian confederate cavalry is attested as having played a significant part before this transition.
What changes did Augustus make to Roman legionary cavalry when the Republic became the Empire?
Augustus restored to each Roman legion a small citizen cavalry force of 120 men recruited from the legionaries themselves. He also made a regular Auxilia corps of non-citizen soldiers who were subjects recruited from provinces controlled by Rome with strong native cavalry traditions.