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08-23-2002, 12:47 AM

Ave! 
Do you know when was actually enlarged the legionary cavalry? 
I found that during the third century the strength of the cavalry arm in each legion was rised up to the consitency of an "ala milliaria", from the little cavalry corps of 120 troopers of the earlier organization. I never completely convinced myself that for two centuries the legions had only so few troopers, less than an auxiliary cohors equitata; also the cohortes praetoriae had each one more troopers: with a proportion of one turma of equites to two centuries of pedites; it seems little credible to me that the legion, the larger all arms formation, had the weakest number of troopers. 
What do you think about this matter? 
 
Best Regards, 
Luciano.

08-23-2002, 09:59 AM

Salve, 
 
Roman republican legions were assigned 200 to 300 citizen cavalry. The legionary cavalry gradually disappeared in the late republican era and in the imperial army legionary cavalry reappeared, though differently from that of the republican era. There are but two more or less reliable indications available for their strength in early imperial times, with some circumstantial evidence. Josephus mentions that one hundred twenty horsemen were attached to a legion in his description of the Roman march order, while a papyrus from the reign of Diocletianus lists, if I recall correctly, 99 ration units for the promoti of II Traiana. The twohundred soomatophylakes in the Ektaxis are regarded by Pavkovic and Speidel to have been legionary equites protectores, the strength explained by being that of one full strength legion and a lesser number for the incomplete other one. 
 
There are various types of legionary horsemen recorded in the imperial army such as equites legionis, speculatores, stratores, singulares and later on equites promoti, equites protectores and equites stablesiani. The frumentarii were also probably mounted. It is unclear to what extent these categories overlapped and whether they are to be counted into the total of the legionary cavalry given by Josephus or that such troopers were additional to that number. 
 
Legionary horsemen of the imperial army likely formed an elite. Though promotion and employment in the Roman army depended as much on patronage and outright bribery as on any qualities, it appears nevertheless that the citizen cavalry was tasked with important duties. Their complement served as bodyguards ( singulares, protectores) to senior officers, trained auxiliary guard cavalry ( centuriones exercitatores), was transferred to the alae to serve as cadre (eg appointment of Tiberius Claudius Maximus as duplicarius alae) and supervised the supply of horses to the army. Several of these tasks would have removed these soldiers from their parent unit on detached duty. Thus it is possible that the strength of the legionary cavalry attested by Josephus is not the complete number of troops. On the other hand it can be argued that men were recalled from their duties to serve in the ranks when a unit was mobilised for all out warfare. 
 
Vegetius, Epitoma 2.6, assigns a much larger number of troopers to the legion, 66 for the nine quingenary cohorts of his legio antiqua and 132 for the milliary first cohort for a total of 726 troopers, though the text mentions 730. His description of the legionary cavalryman's organisation does not match the record from inscriptions and papyri, and this is regarded as an indication that his reconstruction may be flawed. Nevertheless the legionary organisation has been variously ascribed to the reign of emperors in the second to third century, Gallienus notably being favoured for his assumed expansion of the Roman cavalry. The authenticity of the legio antiqua of Vegetius is disputed though, with some scholars arguing that it is a fictional reconstruction composed by the author from incomplete information. See also this thread. 
 
 
 Bellum Judaicum, 3.115-126 
 
 Ouespasianos de hoormÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨menos autos embalein eis tÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨n Galilaian exelaunei tÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨s Ptolemaidos diataxas tÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨n stratian hodeuein katha Rhoomaiois ethos. Tous men ge psilous toon epikouroon kai toxotas proagein ekeleusen, hoos anakoptoien tas exapinaious toon polemioon epidromas kai diereunooien tas hupoptous kai lochasthai dynamenas hylas, hois eipeto kai Rhoomaioon hoplitikÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨ moipa, pezoi kai hippeis. Toutois aph'hekastÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨s hehekatontarchias ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨kolouthoun deka tÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨n te heautoon skeuÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨n kai ta metra tÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨s parembolÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨s pherontes, kai met'autous hodopoioi ta te skolia tÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨s leoophorou kateuthynein kai chthamaloun ta dysbata kai tas empodious hylas proanakoptein, hoos mÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨ talaipooroito dysporoun ta strateuma. Katopin de toutoon tas te idias kai tas toon hyp' auton hÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨gemonoon etaxen aposkeuas kai sychnous epi toutois pros asphaleian toon hippeoon. Meth'hous autos exÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨launen tous te epilektous toon pezoon kai hippeoon kai tous lonchophorous echoon. Heipetod'autooi to idion tou tagmatos hippikon, idioi gar hekastou tagmatos eikosi pros tois hekaton hippeis. Toutois d'ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨kolouthoun hoi tas helepoleis pherontes oreis kai ta loipa mÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨chanÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨mata. Meta toutous hÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨gemones te kai speiroon eparchoi syn chiliarchois, epilektous peri sphas stratiootas echontes. Epeita hai sÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨maiai periischousai ton aeton, hos pantos archei Rhoomaiois tagamtos, basileus te oioonoon hapantoon kai alkimootatos oon: ho dÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨ kai tÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨s hÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨gemonias tekmÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨rion autois kai klÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨idoon, eph'hous an ioosin, tou kratÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨sein dokei. Tois de hierois ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨kolouthoun hoi salpinktai, kai katopin autoon hÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨ phalanx to stiphos eis hex platynasa. Toutois pareipeto tis hekatontarchos ex ethous tÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨n taxin episkopoumenos. To d'oiketion hekastou tagmatos hapan tois pezois heipeto, tas aposkeuas toon stratiootoon epi tois oreusin kai tois hypozygiois agontes. Katopin de pantoon toon tagmatoon ho misthios ochlos, hois ouragoi pros asphaleian ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¨kolouthoun pezoi te kai hoplitai kai toon hippeoon sychnoi. 
 
'Vespasian though, impatient to advance into Galilea himself, marched out to Ptolemais having deployed the army for marching according to the Roman custom. The light armed from the auxiliaries and the archers he sent out to march ahead, in order to repel the sudden assaults of the enemies and to clear suspected woods for ambushes. And a heavy armed force of Romans followed them, both foot and horse. Following these came ten men selected from each century carrying their own kit and the measuring instruments for the camp, and behind them the pioneers to remove the obstacles of the marching route, level the uneven parts of the ground and cut away impeding bushes, so the army would not have a tiresome and difficult march. Behind them he placed his own baggage and that of the commanders around him with a strong guard of horsemen. Behind them he rode himself with the picked troops of the infantry and cavalry and the javelineers. Behind him the organic cavalry force of the legion, for there are one hundred and twenty cavalrymen of their own for each legion. The mules carrying the siege towers and the other siege engines followed them. Behind them the generals and the commanders of cohorts with the tribunes with picked soldiers as an escort. Next the standards surrounding the eagle, that leads each Roman legion, because it is the king and the bravest of all birds: this they consider the symbol of power and a portent of victory over foes, whoever they might be. The trumpeters followed these sacred objects, and at their rear the compact formation of six abreast. A centurion marched along according to custom to oversee the formation. The attendant's corps of each legion followed the infantrymen, leading the soldiers baggage on mules and beasts of burden. Behind all the legions the mercenary corps, both heavy armed infantrymen and a considerable number of cavalry followed these as rearguards for safety.' 
 
 
For republican era citizen cavalry: 
 
McCall, J.B., The cavalry of the Roman republic (London 2001) 200p. 
 
There is a monograph on the subject of imperial legionary cavalry, which I haven't seen yet: 
 
Pavkovic, M.F., The legionary horsemen: an essay on the equites legionis and equites promoti (Ann Arbor 1992). 
 
Legionary singulares and protectores: 
 
Pavkovicz, M.F., 'Singulares legati legionis: guards of a legionary legate or a provincial governor?' in: ZPE 103 (1994), 223-228. (also available EzCode Parsing Error:=]online[) 
Pavkovic, M.F., 'A note on Arrian's Ektaxis kata Alanon' in: AHB 2.1 (1988), 21-23. 
 
Imperial legionary cavalry in battle: 
 
Speidel, M.P., 'Legionary horsemen on campaigns' in: Saalburg Jahrbuch 47 (1994), 36-39. 
 
Legionary speculatores: 
 
Clauss, M., (). 
 
For auxiliary guards and legionary training officers: 
 
Speidel, M.P., Guards of the Roman armies (Bonn 1978) 149p. 
Speidel, M.P., Riding for Caesar. The Roman emperors' horse guard (London 1994) 223p. 
 
On the stratores and stablesiani: 
 
Speidel, M.P., 'Stablesiani. The raising of new cavalry units during the crisis of the Roman Empire' in: Chiron 4 (1974), 541-546. 
 
On tetrarchic legionary cavalry detachment: 
 
Duncan-Jones, R.P., 'Pay and numbers in Diocletian's army' in: Chiron 8 (1978), 541-560. 
 
I have got more extensive references on the subject at home and will post them later this weekend. 
 
Regards, 
 
 
Sander van Dorst

08-26-2002, 07:58 PM

Salve, 
 
Organisation 
 
The horsemen of the imperial legion belonged to a separate numerus, which had its own tabularium or administrative office, clerk ( actarius) and financial administrator ( quaestor. Numerus did not have the special technical meaning of a unit of irregulars often applied in modern literature on the Roman army, in fact it was applied to all sorts of units regardles of the nature of their complement. Unlike the republican legionary horse, turmae are not attested as subunits, though the existence of subdivisions is assumed by modern scholars. Evidence for subdivision is to date only circumstantial. The Notita dignitatum list equites promoti under vexillationes. Cavalrymen are listed as belonging to various centuriae instead of assigned to units of their own, similar to other specialists in the legion. Though their duties would have required soldiers to serve away from their parent unit, they nevertheless remained on the books of the normal centuriae. 
 
The various units of stablesiani were organised along different lines, perhaps indicating a haphazard process rather than a single sweeping reform. A Greek inscription refers to a koors or cohors, while the EzCode Parsing Error:=] Notitia dignitatum[ has them organised in a vexillatio or cuneus. The use of cohors for a cavalry unit is not unique, as the early imperial horse guards were a cohors Germanorum and Ammianus also refers to cohortes of cavalry. The units may have been formed in various ways, brigading together existing numbers or by using the legionary troopers as cadre with new recruits fleshing out the unit. 
 
The legionary speculatores served away form their units, generally attached to a provincial governerÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s staff and brigaded together with similar troopers from other legions in provinces with multiple such units. They seem to have numbered only ten per legion and do not appear to have had noncoms and officers of their own, as recorded for the more numerous praetorian speculatores. The one optio recorded may have been an official of their social club rather than a military rank. 
 
Hierarchy 
 
The hierarchy of the legionary horse gives little precise information about the internal organisation of the numerus of the equites legionis. Officers attested are the centurio exercitator and the magister equitum, who was specified as a centurio supernumerarius. The allocation of training officers was relatively generous: at a time when the force comprised about two thousand troopers only three to four such officers served with the imperial horseguard. It cannot be determined with any certainty whether these different titles refer to one and the same position or that they indicate separate functions. Noncommisioned officers and specialists include the optio equitum, the eques vexillarius or vexillarius equitum and the quaestor equitum. It has been suggested, though not proven, that there may have been several vexillarii, as one is attested as being in command of a detachment away from the main base. Though republican legionary cavalry had decuriones, such officers are not recorded for the imperial legionary horse. 
 
Some legionary horsemen were employed as bodyguards, initially called singulares though later acquiring the name of protectores. The centurio protector, a designation that came into use in the third century, is not linked to such legionary mounted bodyguards, but elonged to the select company of protectores, later on termed - domestici or - divini lateris, who were groomed for higher command. 
 
The stratores who are thought to have been the precursors of the stablesiani had their own centurio strator. 
 
 
Some additional reading: 
 
 
Speidel, M.P., 'The captor of Decebalus' in: Journal of Roman Studies 60 (1970), 142-153. 
Speidel, M.P., 'The rise of ethnic units in the Roman imperial army' in: ANRW II-3 (1975), 202-231. 
Speidel, M.P., ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“Centurions and horsemen of legio II TraianaÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ in: Aegyptus 66 (1986), 163-168 (reprinted in Roman army studies II (Stuttgart 1992)). 
 
Regards, 
 
Sander van Dorst 
 
 
Selection of texts 
 
The master of the cavalrymen 
 
 CIL V, 8278 (= ILS, 2333) 
 
Iulius centurio | supernumerarius | leg(ionis) XI Claudiae | stip(endiorum) XXXIIII annor(um) | circiter XXXX tiro probitus ann(is) | XVI postea profecit | disce(n)s equitum | ordine factus mag(ister) | equitum positus hic. 
 
Legionary cavalry training officer 
 
 CIL III, 3470 (= ILS 2453) 
 
Marti Aug(usto) Sac(rum) | C(aius) Cusp(ius) Secundus | exercitator leg(ionis) | II Adi(utricis) pro salute | militu(m) et sua | quod evoca | tus vovit, cen | turio vovit cen | turio solvit | l(ibens) m(erito). 
 
Tiberius Claudius Maximus, legionary horsemen, financial administrator, bodyguard and flagbearer 
 
 AE 1969/1970, 583 
 
Ti(berius) Claudius | Maximus vet(eranus) | [s(e)] v(ivo) f(aciendum) c(uravit) militavit | eques in leg(ione) VII C(laudia) P(ia) F(ideli) fac | tus qu(a)estor equit(um) | singularis legati le | gionis eiusdem vexil | larius equitum item | bello Dacico ob virtu | te(m) donis donatus ab im | p(eratore) Domitiano factus dupli(carius) | a divo Troiano | in ala secu(n)d(a) | Pannoniorum a quo et fa© | tus explorator in bello Da | cico et ob virtute(m) bis donis | donatus bello Dacico et | Parthico et ab eode(m) factus | decurio in ala eade(m) quod | cepissett Decebalu(m) et caput eius pertulisset ei Ranissto | ro missus voluntarius ho | nesta missione a Terent[io Scau] | riano consulare [exerci] | tus provinciae nov[ae ? Mes | opatamiae......] 
 
The administrative office of the legionary cavalry 
 
 AE 1957, 85 
 
] Hadriani [3] | [3] Nervae adnep(oti) [3] | [3 S]ar(matico) Ger(manico Max(imo) [3] | [3 tab]ularium equitum [3] | [3 leg(ionis)] III Aug(ustae) dedicante [3] | [3] co(n)s(ule) desig{s}(nato) 
 
 
A legionary centurion acting as training officer to the imperial horse guard 
 
 CIL III, 1904 (= ILS 2417) 
 
Eponab(us) et | Campestrib(us) sacr(um) | M(arcus) Calventius | Viator 7 leg(ionis) IIII F(laviae) F(irmae) | exerc(itatori) eq(uitum) sing(ularium) | C(aii) Avid(i)i Nigrini | leg(ati) pr(o) pr(aetore) | v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)

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