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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9” black arxJ white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI’ THE ROMAN CAVALRY CAVALRY COMBAT AND ELITE REPUTATION IN THE MIDDLE AND LATE REPUBLIC DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jeremiah B McCall, M A ***** The Ohio State University 2000 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Dr. Nathan Rosenstein, Adviser Dr Jack Balcer Adviser Dr John Guilmartin ' History Graduate Program UMI Number 9982941 UMI UMI Microform 9982941 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and team ing Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT Throughout the middle Republic the wealthiest Roman citizens supplied a cavalry contingent to every field army. Cavalry service was a distinguished form of service so­ cially superior to service in the infantry and an important mark of elite status Neverthe­ less, in the early first century BCE, the citizen cavalry disappeared and foreign auxilia­ ries supplied all of Rome’s cavalry. The Romans had abandoned an institution that had lasted for centuries. According to the traditional explanation for the end of citizen cavalry service, the Romans were simply poor, ineffective cavalrymen. In contrast, foreign peoples possessed cavalry forces categorically superior to the Roman citizen cavalry. Therefore, the Romans completely replaced their poor quality Romano-Italian cavalry with superior foreign cav­ alry This traditional argument lacks any systematic analysis of the Roman cavalry’s military effectiveness to support it. We carmot accurately assess the military effectiveness of the Roman cavalry, however, without systematically analyzing the available evidence. Furthermore, supporters of the traditional argument have neglected to consider the social and cultural ramifications of citizen cavalry’s disappearance. Because cavalry service was u so essential to elite identity in the middle Republic, the members o f the Roman elite could not have relinquished cavalry service unless suitable alternative sources of prestige were available to them The present study offers what, to date, has been lacking: a systematic analysis of the Roman cavalry both as a military arm and as a source of social and political prestige for the Roman elite My primary concerns are why the citizen cavalry disappeared after centuries of service and how the first century elite acquired prestige and a reputation without cavalry service. The first part of this study demonstrates unequivocally that the Roman cavalry was militarily effective. Therefore, one cannot reasonably argue that the Roman cavalry disappeared because of its poor quality. The second part examines how alternative markers of elite status, particularly skill in oratory and possession of great amounts of money, became increasingly important in the late Republic. As a result of these alternative markers of elite status, cavalry service became irrelevant to the Roman elite. Ill ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my adviser. Dr. Nathan Rosenstein, for offering freely his time and knowledge, for setting high standards o f scholarship, and for believing in the value of my work. I also wish to thank Dr. Jack Balcer for the care and attention he devoted to the technical aspects of this thesis and for encouraging me every step of the way. I am grateful to Dr. John Guilmartin for sitting on my examination committee and for generously contributing a different perspective to this thesis. Finally, I thank Olivia for her patience and support, without which I could not have accomplished this. We achieved this together IV VITA April 20, 1972 ................................................ Bom - Chicago, Illinois 1990................................................................. B A History, University of New Hampshire 1997 ................................................................. M.A. Ifistory, The Ohio State University 1995 - present..................................................Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field; History TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract................................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... iv V ita........................................................................................................................................V List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... viii Chapters. 1 Cavalry Service and Elite Status; The Problem of the Citizen Cavalry’s .................1 Disappearance 2. Assessing the Military Effectiveness of the Citizen Cavalry ................................... 21 3. Equipment and Tack .................................................................................................. 42 4. Roman Cavalry Tactics in the Middle Republic .......................................................84 5. Combat Motivation: Cavalry Service and Elite Status ...........................................121 6. Dating the Disappearance of Citizen Cavalry Contingents .................................... 155 7. Alternative Marks of Elite Status and the End of Citizen Cavalry Service 178 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 218 VI Appendices: A. Roman Cavalry Formations: Some Considerations ................................................ 224 B. The Size of the Cavalry Class and the Burden of Cavalry Service ........................227 Before the Social War Bibliography .........................................................................................................................231 vu ABBREVIATIONS AbhM ünch Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, München, Philosophisch- historische Klasse. Abhandlungen AJA American Journal of Archeology AJP American Journal of Philology A ncW Ancient World AntAfr Antiquités africaines Ath U.S. Athenaeum new series BCH Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique C.I.L. Corpus Insciptionum Latinarum CP Classical Philology CO Classical Quarterly CR Classical Review DialArch Dialoghi di archeologia Historia Historia. Zeitschrift fîir alte Geschichte I.L.S. Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae JMH Journal of Military History JRS Journal of Roman Studies MÉFR Mélanges d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’École française de Rome M iïM it Militargeschichliche Mitteilungen Phoenix Phoenix. The Classical Association of Canada Rphil Revue de philologie, de littérature, et d’histoire anciennes RivFil Rivista di filologia e d’istruzione classica Wfut World Futures Whist War in History vui CHAPTER 1 CAVALRY SERVICE AND ELITE STATUS; THE PROBLEM OF THE CITIZEN CAVALRY’S DISAPPEARANCE Throughout the middle Republic the wealthiest Roman citizens supplied a cavalry contingent to every field army. Each cavalryman was liable to serve a maximum of ten years between the ages of 17 and 46. Cavalry service was a distinguished form of service and an important mark of elite status. Neverthdess, in the early first century BCE' the citizen cavalry disappeared and foreign auxiliaries supplied all of Rome’s cavalry. The Romans had abandoned an institution that had lasted for centuries. The traditional explanation for the Roman citizen cavalry’s termination has per­ sisted for the better part of a century and received wide support fix>m historians. The Ro­ mans, according to this explanation, were simply poor cavalrymen. They lacked any na­ tive tradition of cavalry service, were unskilled as mounted warriors, and were ineffective against enemy cavalry Only too aware of the deplorable abilities of their citizen cavalry­ men, the Romans looked for a solution. Foreign auxiliary cavalry were the answer. For­ eign peoples—particularly the Numidians, Spanish, and Gauls—possessed cavalry forces categorically superior