Hadrian\'s cataphracts were they on armoured horses

[Aventin Miniaures]

I have been asked to produce a 28mm Roman Army of 180AD. I have some armoured cataphract horses completed for a later period but cannot find any evidence of them being used this early on. I know details on Hadrian's cataphracts are scant and that they disappeared from records. I will not be making them without some indication that they were in use around 180AD. Any advice / shared knowledge would be a blessing.

[Aulus Perrinius]

Unfortunatly not much is known about Hadrians Cataphract unit that includes whether or not the horses were armoured and if they were in use around 180 A.D . . . I think it's safe to say no one knows for sure

Perhaps you could just the horse armour some color that could either be horse armour or cloth (IIRC Mercellius mentions that the parthians had leather with pieces of metal for their horses) so you could do something like that

[SigniferOne]

Do we have any evidence for Hadrianic cataphracts?

[Aventin Miniaures]

I think it safe to say that there is no evidence of armoured horses for cataphracts around 180AD. I will produce Armenians Allies instead and thus make use of this great horse.

Thanks

[Mythos_Ruler]

Well, what source makes you use the term "Hadrian's Cataphracts" at all?

[Aventin Miniaures]

I looked up Roman Cataphract on Google and found this article

Cataphracts were introduced into the Roman army due to the influence of neighboring Sarmatian, Armenian, and Parthian armies. The first known “Cataphract” units was the ala I Gallorum et Pannoniorum catafractata (wing one “Cataphractata” of Galls and Pannonians) which appeared in the reign of Hadrian (117-138 AD). This unit was stationed in Moesia, probably to defend against Sarmatians. The was later given citizenship, but subsequently disappeared from records and nothing is known about its equipment. A century later, units called catafractarii made appearance during the reign of Gallienus. However, scholars like Eadie believe that these units were probably similar to earlier Roman cavalry that were lighter than their eastern counterparts with a key difference in the amount of horse armor.

on a site http://www.allempires.com/article/index ... ataphracts

That prompted me to look at the few books I had. I found an entry in the 6th edition WRG war gaming list allowing cataphracts but with a note "A single milliary ala of equites contariorum was formed under Trajan and replaced by a single ala of catafractarii under Hadrian. This was writen some time ago by Phil Barker.