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Re-enactor as Roman cavalryman. Roman cavalry (Latin: equites Romani) refers to the horse-mounted forces of the Roman army throughout the regal, republican, and imperial eras. In the regal era, the Roman cavalry was a group of 300 soldiers called celeres, tasked with guarding the Kings of Rome. Later their numbers were doubled to 600, then ...
The equites (/ ˈɛkwɪtiːz /; lit.'horse' or 'cavalrymen', though sometimes referred to as " knights " in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an eques (Latin: [ˈɛ.kʷɛs]).
Panel from Trajan's Column, Rome. Equites cataphractarii, or simply cataphractarii, were the most heavily armoured type of Roman cavalry in the Imperial Roman army and Late Roman army. The term derives from a Greek word, κατάφρακτος kataphraktos, meaning "covered over" or "completely covered" (see Cataphract).
Roman organisation was more flexible than those of many opponents. Over time, the legions effectively handled challenges ranging from cavalry, to guerrillas, and to siege warfare. Roman discipline (cf. decimation), organization and systematization sustained combat effectiveness over a longer period. These elements appear throughout the legion ...
Late Roman army. The West Roman army disintegrated AD 425–470, whilst the East Roman army continued until the Muslim conquests, after which the theme system was created. The Tetrarchs, a porphyry statue on Venice 's Basilica di San Marco, shows the emperor Diocletian and his three imperial colleagues.
Emesa helmet. The Emesa helmet (also known as the Homs helmet) is a Roman cavalry helmet from the early first century AD. It consists of an iron head piece and face mask, the latter of which is covered in a sheet of silver and presents the individualised portrait of a face, likely its owner. Decorations, some of which are gilded, adorn the head ...
The Early Roman army, from c. 550 to c. 300 BC, is widely believed to have been equipped Greek-style, as hoplite heavy infantry, complemented by light (unarmoured) infantry and light cavalry. The hoplites would fight in set-piece battles as a phalanx, or single, deep line of spearmen.
The early Roman armywas deployed by ancient Romeduring its Regal Eraand into the early Republicaround 300 BC, when the so-called "Polybian" or manipular legion was introduced. Until c. 550 BC, there was probably no "national" Roman army, but a series of clan-based war-bands, which only coalesced into a united force in periods of serious ...