11-02-2009, 04:39 PM
Quote:Ah, okay, I read equestrian as equestrian- the social rank- not as horseman. But even so my problem with the statement being relevant stands- it's still not meaning the average Centurio, right?It's a poem, so it's never going to be straightforward. It's a poem about a man who takes up the post of the emperor's ab epistulis, and lists his duties (in poetical language). One of his duties is to announce "who will restrain the hundred, as an eques sent among the manipli". He's clearly talking about the appointment of centurions (in poetic language, "restraining the hundred" is obviously the task of a centurion). It seems to me that he is contrasting "mounted" (eques) with "foot" (manipli), but he may actually be referring to the centurion as an equestrian. Difficult. (And poetic.)
Quote:What references do you have for the 'many centurions came from the ranks of the equites singulares? I'm not familiar with that fact.You're just setting me up to knock me back down again, aren't you?! :wink:
Pretty standard stuff, in the lore of appointments to the centurionate, but here goes: CIL 6, 31175 (dedication to a bewildering selection of deities worshipped by the equites, including their own personal genius, by a centurion of the VII Gemina, clearly on his promotion from the Horse Guard); ILS 2213 (dedication by a centurion of I Minervia, on his promotion from decurion of the Horse Guard); ILS 2417 (dedication by a centurion of IIII Flavia to "horsey" deities, mentioning a previous posting as trainer in the Horse Guard); ILS 4776 (dedication to the cavalry goddesses normally worshipped by the Horse Guard by a centurion of VII Gemina); ...
Quote:It seems reasonable that if >Clemens were seconded to a cavalry unit, he must have ridden- but the question is did a Centurio normally ride instead of march, and just because one could doesn't mean one did.[Original reply deleted: polite reply follows]Do you promote a man to command 500 horsemen in wartime, when he doesn't own a horse and can't ride? Discuss.
