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Equites were lightly armed and mobile cavalry who were best suited to either chasing down fleeing enemies, or driving off skirmishers.

Description

The Equites were a caste of the Roman elite, who served as cavalry in a Roman legion of this time, and were formed from the 18 centuries of Equites, which were created by the Roman King, Servius Tullius. Those serving were provided with a Public Horse (equus publicus) by the state, and the money for its upkeep.

There were also those who were Eques, who were a class below the 18 centuries of Equites. They did not receive a Public Horse but had to provide their own. Due to the Equites superior wealth, they were able to arm themselves with good quality equipment, namely a chain mail suit or bronze cuirass, a slightly longer sword for slashing downwards to foes below, as well as a long spear. Nevertheless, in comparison to their Eastern counterparts, the Equites were lightly armed, making them mobile, yet vulnerable in close combat. Because of this, their role in battle was mainly confined to chasing down fleeing enemies, supporting the velites, or driving off enemy skirmishers.

In the constitution of Servius Tullius all the Roman citizens were arranged in different classes according to the amount of their property, and it may therefore fairly be presumed that a place in the centuries of Equites was determined by the same qualification. Dionysius (iv.18) expressly says, that the Equites were chosen by Servius out of the richest and most illustrious families; and Cicero (De Rep. II.22) that they were of the highest census (censu maximo). Livy (i.43) also states that the twelve centuries formed by Servius Tullius consisted of the leading men of the state.

None of these writers, however, mention the property which was necessary to entitle a person to a place among the Equites; but it was probably of the same amount as in the latter times of the republic, that is, four times that of the first class. Every man therefore who possessed the requisite property, and whose character was unblemished (for this latter qualification appears to have been always necessary in the ancient times of the republic), was admitted among the Equites of the Servian constitution; and it may be presumed that the twelve new centuries were created in order to include all those persons in the state who possessed the necessary qualifications.

Niebuhr (Hist. of Rome, vol. I p427, &c.), however, supposes that the qualification of property was only necessary for admission into the twelve new centuries, and that the statement of Dionysius, quoted above, ought to be confined to these centuries, and not applied to the whole eighteen. He maintains that the twelve centuries consisted exclusively of plebeians; and that the six old centuries (that is, the three double centuries of Ramnes, Tities and Luceres, priores and posteriores), which were incorporated by Servius into his comitia under the title of the sex suffragia, comprised all the patricians, independent of the amount of property which they possessed.

This account, however, does not seem to rest on sufficient evidence; and we have on the contrary, an express instance of a patrician, L. Tarquitius, B.C. 458, who was compelled on account of his poverty to serve on foot (Liv. III.27). That the six old centuries consisted entirely of patricians is most probable, since the plebeians would certainly not have been admitted among the Equites at all till the Servian constitution; and as by this constitution new centuries were created, it is not likely that any plebeians would have been placed among the ancient six. But we have no reason for supposing that these six centuries contained the whole body of patricians, or that the twelve consisted entirely of plebeians.

We may suppose that those patricians, who belonged to the six, were allowed by the Servian constitution to continue in them, if they possessed the requisite property; and that all other persons in the state, whether patricians or plebeians, who possessed the requisite property, were admitted into the 12 new centuries. That the latter were not confined to plebeians may be inferred from Livy, who says that they consisted of the leading men in the state (primores civitatis), not in the plebs.

As vacancies occurred in the eighteen centuries, the descendants of those who were originally enrolled succeeded to their places, whether plebeians or patricians, provided they had not dissipated their property; for Niebuhr goes too far when he asserts that all vacancies were filled up according to birth, independent of any property qualification. But in course of time, as population and wealth increased, the number of persons, who possessed an equestrian fortune, also increased greatly; and as the number of equites in the 18 centuries was limited, those persons, whose ancestors had not been enrolled in the centuries, could not receive horses from the state, and were therefore allowed the privilege of serving with their own horses amongst the cavalry, instead of the infantry, as they would otherwise have been obliged to have done.

Not being natural horsemen, the Romans soon began to favour the use of allied cavalry, but these cavalrymen can be relied upon in the role of flanking manoeuvres, engaging enemy skirmishers, and chasing down fleeing troops. Following the Marian reforms, the legions retained 120 cavalrymen, but these were provided equipment and mounts by the state. The cavalry supporting Roman legions would largely be provided from non-Italian peoples, laying the foundations for the auxiliary cavalry of the Imperial Era.