By Jeremiah B. McCall
During this unique and revealing paintings, Jeremiah B. McCall demanding situations the commonly authorised view of the Roman cavalry and explores the elemental connections among battle and society in republican Rome, c.300-100 BC. McCall describes the citizen cavalry's apparatus, strategies, and motivation in conflict, and argues for its effectiveness within the box. This luck is evidence that it can't eventually were disbanded for basically army purposes; he indicates that victories within the law-courts, and extravagant screens of wealth, got here to supersede cavalry provider as a fashion of creating the reputations of the Roman elite. The transparent constitution and clean strategy of the publication, combining insights from either Roman army and social historical past, might be invaluable to readers in any respect degrees of analysis.
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73 The Dioscurii had had symbolic ties with the Roman equites for centuries and, according to tradition, had personally fought for the Romans at the battle of Lake Regillus (494). 74 The aristocracy was well aware of the close symbolic ties between the Dioscurii and cavalry service. The use of the Dioscurii as an icon at this point in time probably reflected the cavalry’s renewed confidence. The adoption of heavy cavalry armament may have helped renew that confidence. Perhaps this is why the Dioscurii wear armor on these coins.
We may suppose, under these circumstances, they would have held up reasonably well even if they eventually lost. If, on the other hand, they still fought in loincloths, protected only by the flimsiest of shields and wielding brittle spears, their defeat is unsurprising. 58 We might well expect the citizen cavalry to have suffered a disastrous defeat. The results of this cavalry engagement suggest Roman cavalry troopers were still lightly armed. They suffered extremely high casualties as the Spanish and Gallic cavalry drove them along the river.
Because the outcomes of ancient battles depended so much upon morale, we must determine what motivated the Roman rider to enter battle and keep up the fight. Chapter five examines Roman combat motivation. A major source of Roman combat motivation came from the Roman value-system, which emphasized martial courage and valued those who demonstrated courage. Generally speaking, the Roman rider was equally, if not more, motivated than any of his opponents. Once we have established the relative parity of tactics and equipment, the driving forces of combat motivation, and, incidentally, the actual successful track record of the Roman cavalry, it can no longer be suggested that the Romans made poor cavalry.