Cavalry in early Republic Times

[Metella]

So - I can't find much on this era and topic.

 

I want to know ... how did the units form up? Did they meet on the plains of mars? Were they assigned to Decurions before muster? Just the gritty details.

 

Did they carry shields? I know at this time, most were at least moderately wealthy, provided their own horses ... that is about it - and that is not much.

 

Thanks to anyone added to my knowledge of this time and topic.

[caldrail]

Roman cavalry of this era is not well documented. However we can say that horses were not common and to ride one in battle was a privilege reserved for the upper section of citizenry (which is where the idea of the equite, or knight, as a senior member of society comes from). Obviously since a horse was expensive, provision of one required a wealthy person.

 

Spears were the weapon of choice, used overhand in a stabbing fashion or thrown at the target on a mobile pass. Shields would not have been used.

 

Tactics were very much geared toward typical light cavalry roles such as reconnaisance, outflanking, harassement, and pursuit although the Romans were not noted for their skills in this regard. usually a the horses were deployed to the wings of the army on the battlefield, contesting the flanks with opposing cavalry and the winner able to move around the enemy undeterred. Fights between cavalry units weren't always head on fights - we know there was a lot of manoever and galloping involved as uniuts rode past the other or avoided contact. The secret of succesful use was mobility. Lose that and your cavalry risked getting slaughtered.

[Melvadius]

It is not an area I know well but if you wish detailed information you may do worse than looking out for this book The Cavalry of the Roman Republic by Jeremiah B. McCall. Apprently as well as being available in both hardback and paperback you can also get it on Kindle but either way it is still fairly expensive.

 

In this original and revealing work, Jeremiah B. McCall challenges the generally accepted view of the Roman cavalry and explores the fundamental connections between war and society in republican Rome, c.300-100 BC.

 

McCall describes the citizen cavalry's equipment, tactics, and motivation in battle, and argues for its effectiveness in the field. This success is proof that it cannot finally have been disbanded for purely military reasons; he shows that victories in the law-courts, and lavish displays of wealth, came to supersede cavalry service as a way of building the reputations of the Roman elite.

The clear structure and fresh approach of the book, combining insights from both Roman military and social history, will be useful to readers at all levels of study.

...

[GhostOfClayton]

It is not an area I know well but if you wish detailed information you may do worse than looking out for this book The Cavalry of the Roman Republic by Jeremiah B. McCall. Apprently as well as being available in both hardback and paperback you can also get it on Kindle but either way it is still fairly expensive.

 

Strangely, on Amazon's UK site, you can get it for under twenty quid. Then again, we pay so much more for our Kindles than our friends in our former colonies - and thus cosmic balance is restored.

[Metella]

Thanks guys.

 

Unfortunately - expensive is something I can't swing right now. But you have gotten me started.

 

I just got Kindle for PC free - so I can read right on my computer, of course, that is NO good at the beach.

[caldrail]

The information I have about pre-Servian cavalry is as follows...

 

The earliest cavalry of Rome is described by Livy. Some consider this information as unreliable as is often the case with Roman sources dealing with the most distant antiquity. However the information is that there were six centuries of cavalry. Three centuries had apparently been originally formed by Romulus himself and each bore a name.

 

Tities Priores

Tities Posterirores

Ramnes Priores

Ramnes Posteriores

Luceres Priores

Luceres Posteriores

 

After the later Servian Reforms these original centuries (Sevrius supposedly expanded the number by twelve) had a special significance and were known collectively as the Sex Suffragia "Six Votes". There is no evidence that centuries of horsemen were actually employed, but rather that six turmae of thirty riders were much older in form.

 

To further complicate our understanding, the addition of priores and posteriores appears to linked to a tradition that cavalrymen were each attended by a mounted groom who fell back and did not take the line in battle. One source describes the cavalry introduced by Tarquin as having two horses, presumably so the rider could mount a fresh horse at a convenient moment.

 

The state treasury provided 10,000 asses (coins, not animals) for the pourchase of horses and required rich widows to stump up a further 2000 for their upkeep during the campaigning year. Strictly speaking there's little or no evidence of any true cavalry until 403BC during the campaign against Veii, which Livy informs us was the first time that cavalrymen brought their own horses.

[Maty]

There's something in Polybius which might help. He's describing the mid-Republic, but he says that at this time the Romans switched from their earlier equipment, which may be from the time you are looking at.

 

Basically he says that the old shields were not properly weather-proofed and rotted and peeled, and the javelins were so light and bendy that they bounced in the hand and this screwed up accuracy.

[Metella]

That does help!

 

Again - you guys are absolutely the best! You (meaning me) can read a large tome like one from Polybius or Livy - and get a lot. But later, when trying to bring up a small fact ... it is too much to recall.

[parthianbow]

@Metella: I cannot recommend McCall's book highly enough. I've read it twice cover to cover, and it makes the most sense of any text I've read on the cavalry of the period.