There is evidence that emperors were as wary of powerful equites as they were of senators. Augustus enforced a tacit rule that senators and prominent equestrians must obtain his express permission to enter the province of Egypt, a policy that was continued by his successors. [60] [64] Also, the command of the Praetorian Guard was normally split between two equites, to reduce the potential for a successful coup d'état. At the same time, command of the second military force in Rome, the cohortes urbanae, was entrusted to a senator.

Baumer, C. (2012) The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors, I.B.Tauris, London ISBN 978-1-78076-060-5 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).That big building that you can see at the end there, that was basically the posh bit, that was where the centurions slept so they were the bosses keeping their eyes on all the soldiers down here. The Roman army used citizen cavalry for much of its history. However, by the time of the 1st century BC citizen cavalry disappeared from the Roman army. Citizen cavalry was replaced by foreign auxiliary cavalry. The auxiliary cavalry was made up of Numidians, Spaniards, and Gauls. Numidian, Spanish, and Gallic cavalry were superior to Roman cavalry. During the Second Punic War the Roman cavalry suffered many defeats, demonstrating the inferiority of native Roman cavalry. [43] Training and formations [ edit ]

Senators' sons followed a separate cursus honorum (career-path) to other equites before entering the Senate: first an appointment as one of the vigintiviri ("Committee of Twenty", a body that included officials with a variety of minor administrative functions), or as an augur (priest), followed by at least a year in the military as tribunus militum laticlavius (deputy commander) of a legion. This post was normally held before the tribune had become a member of the Senate. It seems that from the start the equestrians in the imperial service were organised on a hierarchical basis reflecting their pay-grades. According to Suetonius, writing in the early part of the second century AD, the equestrian procurators who "performed various administrative duties throughout the empire" were from the time of Emperor Claudius I organised into four pay-grades, the trecenarii the ducenarii, the centenarii, and the sexagenarii, receiving 300,000, 200,000, 100,000, and 60,000 sesterces per annum respectively. [68] Cassius Dio, writing a century later, attributed the beginnings of this process to the first emperor, Augustus, himself. [69]Exploratores– reconnaissance units (from explorare – to scout) – examples include two numeri exploratorum attested in the 3rd century in Britain: Habitanco and Bremenio (both names of forts). Irregular Units Coulston, Jonathan. 2000. "'Armed and belted men': The soldiery in imperial Rome". In Ancient Rome: The archaeology of the eternal city. Edited by Jonathan Coulston and Hazel Dodge, 76–118. Oxford: Oxbow. Under the reforming emperor Diocletian ( r.284–305AD), himself an Illyrian equestrian officer, the military equestrian "takeover" was brought a stage further, with the removal of hereditary senators from most administrative, as well as military posts. Hereditary senators were limited to administrative jobs in Italy and a few neighbouring provinces (Sicily, Africa, Achaea and Asia), despite the fact that senior administrative posts had been greatly multiplied by the tripling of the number of provinces and the establishment of dioceses (super-provinces). The exclusion of the old Italian aristocracy, both senatorial and equestrian, from the political and military power that they had monopolised for many centuries was thus complete. The senate became politically insignificant, although it retained great prestige. [79] Sagittarii (archers) – alae sagittariiorum (mounted archers), cohors sagittariiorum and cohors sagittariiorum equitatae (mixed mounted and foot archers) – just one unit is listed for Britannia, The First Cohort of Hamian Bowmen; Of course, a lot of auxiliary units recruited new troops in the provinces they were stationed in, as well as (sometimes?) receiving some from their ‘home’ province, so the original ethnic character gradually became diluted. To these pools of recruits can be added the sons of the veterans.

Dromedarii – camel-mounted units: just one of these is attested from the 2nd century, ala I Ulpia dromedariorum milliaria in Syria, but surely there must have been more to patrol the deserts of Arabia and North Africa; As can be seen from the table, there are several different kinds of units. Superficially at least, the infantry cohorts resemble those of the legions – in particular the cohors quingenaria are very similar to the ordinary cohorts of the legions except that the legionary cohort seems not to have had an overall commander – meaning that it was not capable of independent action, unless the legate appointed ‘someone’ to take command – perhaps one of the tribunes or a senior centurion?Augustus, for the first time, allowed the sons of senators to wear the tunica laticlavia (tunic with broad purple stripes that was the official dress of senators) on reaching their majority even though they were not yet members of the Senate. [46] a b Sabin, Lecturer Department of War Studies Philip; Sabin, Philip; Whitby, Michael Jeffrey; Wees, Hans van; Whitby, Michael (2007-12-06). The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78274-6. The system also led to political conflict between equites publicani and the majority of their fellow- equites, especially senators, who as large landowners wanted to minimise the tax on land outside Italy ( tributum solis), which was the main source of state revenue. [41] This system was terminated by the first Roman emperor, Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – 14 AD), who transferred responsibility for tax collection from the publicani to provincial local authorities ( civitates peregrinae). [42] Although the latter also frequently employed private companies to collect their tax quotas, it was in their own interests to curb extortion. During the imperial era, tax collectors were generally paid an agreed percentage of the amount collected. equites publicani became prominent in banking activities such as money-lending and money-changing. [40] Picture of an equestrian dressed in his rank toga and tunic, the angusticlavia. Privileges [ edit ]

Speidel, Michael P. 1994. Riding for Caesar: The Roman Emperor’s horseguards. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Legionary cavalry also probably underwent a transformation during this period, from the light, unarmoured horsemen of the early period to the Greek-style armoured cuirassiers described by Polybius. [22] As a result of the demands of the Samnite hostilities, a normal consular army was doubled in size to two legions, making four legions raised annually overall. Roman cavalry in the field thus increased to approximately 1,200 horses. [19]Ritner, R.K. (1998): "Egypt Under Roman Rule: the Legacy of Ancient Egypt". In Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol I. Ed. C.F. Petry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thus 10’000 men can be placed in a rectangle about 1’500 yards by twelve yards, and it was advised not to extend the line beyond that. that the main battle-line was the preserve, exclusively, of the legions, being supported on the flanks by the light troops of the auxilia (this would make sense if (ii) above were true – however, as we shall see, it is not);