01-28-2013, 10:36 PM
Robert wrote:
As far as I know, cavalry was made up of turmae, a unit of 32 horsemen. This was the smallest recognised unit. Am I totaly mistaken?
Polybius writes that a decurion commands the turmae, with an additional two other decurii as deputies. (6, 25).
I always deduced this as the three decurions each commanded a group of ten horsemen, while the most senior wore a second hat, so to speak, and commanded the whole turmae. Kind of like two centuries to a maniple. While the senior commands the whole as a larger group, broken down both command their own centuries. Hence why they are called centurions (and decurions).
I might be mistaken, though. You know the old saying about assumptions...
As far as I know, cavalry was made up of turmae, a unit of 32 horsemen. This was the smallest recognised unit. Am I totaly mistaken?
Polybius writes that a decurion commands the turmae, with an additional two other decurii as deputies. (6, 25).
I always deduced this as the three decurions each commanded a group of ten horsemen, while the most senior wore a second hat, so to speak, and commanded the whole turmae. Kind of like two centuries to a maniple. While the senior commands the whole as a larger group, broken down both command their own centuries. Hence why they are called centurions (and decurions).
I might be mistaken, though. You know the old saying about assumptions...