Nancy Jardine Author: #A2ZChallenge S is for Structure

Monday, 22 April 2019

#A2ZChallenge S is for Structure

S is for Structure - Roman Cavalry structure

Theme: Ancient Roman Scotland during the Flavian era

As important to the legions as the Roman Army and the Roman Navy were the auxiliary units, some of which were mounted cavalry. When journeying into hostile territory it must have been exceedingly useful to get out of a situation quickly: one that wasn’t going well. The enemy Iron Age Celtic tribes had their own mounted warriors, so it was practical to have specially trained and dedicated cavalry units working alongside the legions.

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When I looked at the structure of the legions, the numbers for the mounted forces don’t seem to match any typical pattern of the legionaries. I imagine the fact that a horse and soldier atop it must require a lot more space than a foot soldier meant a ‘block’ of cavalry was counted accordingly to match up with certain depth on the wings. (I admit to needing to do more research as to the real answer for this) Perhaps the amount of cavalry attached to a legion were set according to the circumstances of the enemy forces as well, meaning that in some hostile territories more mounted forces were required for forging their way initially, clearing a safer path for the infantry?

What I do read about is that a cavalry soldier was most definitely attached to his horse in a greater way than one would be today, if the more recent conjectures are correct – that horse and soldier slept together in the same small room in an accommodation block in a fort. There seems to have been some auxiliary mounted units who worked somewhat independently from the legions and created their own defences, and other cavalry units which were directly attached to a legion. Tomorrow, I’ll be writing about Trimontium Roman Fort which goes part of the way to explain those theories.

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Whatever the living and sleeping accommodation, the structure of the cavalry depended on what kind of unit it was. Some of the cavalry units have been identified and it seems there were quite a lot of different types… I hope I've got them correct...

Eques Alaris was the name given to a soldier of the smallest fighting unit of cavalry, which was named a turma consisting of 32 mounted troopers. Each turma was commanded by a decurion. The second in command was a duplicarius and there was ideally a third in command named a sesquiplicarius.

16 turmae made up an ala – a ‘wing’ which ideally had 512 cavalry. This was commanded by a Praefectus Alae or a Praefectus Equitum.

An Ala Milliariae was a ‘doubling up’, a bit like the 1st Cohort being double-sized, and consisted of around a thousand mounted soldiers (32 alae)

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The Equites Legionis were directly attached to a legion and were regular soldiers of immune status which meant that being mounted and in charge of a horse was their speciality and expertise. It’s not clear how many mounted soldiers were attached to General Gnaeus Iulius Agricola’s legions campaigning in Caledonia. There could have been anything from 120 to 1000 of them, but if they were directly attached to the legion they were more likely to have been under the command of a centurion and an optio.

Cohortes Equitatae were sometimes formed in times of duress, or specific need, and were mixed cohorts of mounted and infantry.

A Cohors Quingineria was also a mixed unit of 120 infantry and 380 cavalry.

A Cohors Milliaria Requitata was composed of 240 infantry and 760 cavalry.

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Equites Singulares these cavalry contingents acted as bodyguards or special envoys for provincial governors, and sometimes for the emperor as well.

Equites Singulares Augusti specifically protected the emperor.

A Tribunbus Cohortis may have been in command of a unit that was 1000 strong.

A Praefectus Cohortis may have commanded 500 mounted soldiers.

If you have better information than what's above please feel free to comment and correct me, especially if you have sources to back up your information - they'd be wonderful to see since I find references to cavalry structures quite complex.