IMPERIAL ROMAN CAVALRY
Fig. SL005 An auxiliary standard bearer, mid to late first century AD.
Article by Andrew Brozyna
Posted in 2005.
Note: The unit numbers given here are all ideal troop strengths and would have fluctuated during peace and war time.
Alae:
These were units of non-Romans entirely composed of
cavalry. The word ala means "wing" and was used
because of the cavalry's deployment on the wings of
the army. It was here that cavalry was most effective at preventing the outflanking of the Roman battle line. There were two sizes of alae. The
ala quingenaria was a unit of roughly
500 men. This unit was further divided into 16 units
of roughly 32 men called turmae.
During the Flavian period additional, larger units
of alae were created. The ala
milliariae was a unit of roughly 1,000 men.
Only a few of these existed in the empire. A province
would have no more than one at a time. There were 24
turmae of about 32 men each.
Cohortes Equitatae:
Introduced in the Julio-Claudian period, these units
were composed of a mix of infantry and cavalry. Julius
Caesar and Augustus used mixed troops in this fashion,
but only when the need arose. The permanent cohors
equita did not appear until after. There were two
principle sizes: the cohors quingenaria
of roughly 120 infantry and 380 cavalry and the The
cohors milliaria requitata of roughly
240 infantry and 760 cavalry.
Equites Legionis:
Each legion had an attached unit of cavalry of
probably 120 men. In the later empire the number is
thought to have risen to around 760. It is not
certain whether these units had an overall commander
apart form that of the legion. If it did, the post was
probably filled by a centurio or perhaps an
optio.
Equites Singulares:
The Emperor and the provincial governors had cavalry
contingents as body guards. Those protecting the
Emperor were called equites singulares Augusti.
This was the cavalry equivalent of the
Praetorian Guard.
TROOP TYPES
These are the types of cavalry men that made up he units listed above.As seen in the above illustration. In use since the start of the Empire, they were more mobile than the heavily armored troops. made use of a lance, javelins and sword. They were effective at scouting, patrols, guarding the flanks and pursuing and cutting down a fleeing enemy. I don't know their name in Latin, and I am not sure if anyone does.
Conttarii:
These heavily armored troop types were created under the reign of Trajan probably to counter the cavalry of the Sarmatian people. They carried the heavy lance (contus) which was developed from the Sarmations.
Cataphractii or Clibanarii:
These are 2 different words describing the same troops or possibly 2 types of heavy-armored cavalry. Completely armored from head to toe, this type was developed by eastern civilizations to counter the use of arrows. These troops appeared in Roman service probably under the reign of Hadrian (117-138AD).
Sagittarii: The favored recruiting grounds for these horse archers were Crete, Vyrenaica Levant, Numidia, Thrace.
CAVALRY RANKS
Praefectus Equitum: in overall command
of an ala. Early in the empire this commander
was a non-roman from the tribe of which his particular
ala was composed. By the late 1st century AD
the post was filled by a roman of equestrian
status.
Decurio: in command of a turma
Officers below the rank of decurio were the
prinipales and the immunes.
Prinipales were officers who could
command small units of men and received higher pay
than the common soldiers.
Vexillarius: in charge of carrying the
vexillum, or battle flag. He was the highest
ranked member of the immunes.
Imaginifer: carried a sculptural image
of the emperor on a pole.
Cornicularius:
secretary to the senior officer.
Duplicarius: 2nd in command to the
decurio.
Sesquiplicarius: 3rd in command to the
decurio.
Immunes received no extra pay, but they
were exempt from certain the less desirable chores in
the army.
Curator: the accountant.
Custos Armorum: custodian of the
armor.
Actarius 2nd in command of the clerical and
administration staff.
Strator a messenger.
Librarius a clerk.
Beneficiarius an assistant to the
praefectus.