Roman Cavalry Equipment

Roman helmets with face-masks constitute a category of military equipment that is rare and at the same time spectacular. They imitate human heads, bare or helmeted; rich decorations include mythological motives and apotropaic elements. Moreover, they are often made of precious bronze and sometimes even silvered. Those qualities make them focus the attention both of specialists working on Roman military equipment and the wide public.
Several such masks were found on the territory of Roman Dacia. Two were found in the river Olt and are believed to have been washed away from military sites. Another comes from a ditch of the Roman fort Gilău and has been interpreted as having been lost by its owner. All are believed to have been used as parade equipment by Roman cavalrymen. All belong to a rare category of helmets representing female heads.
However, it seems improbable that the loss of an item of that size and value would have remained unnoticed, and that it could be easily washed away by the river - remembering also the scarcity of such finds both within the province and the whole Empire. A study of religious practices of Roman military allows us to propose a re-interpretation of these artifacts. Rather then lost pieces of parade equipment we should probably view them as offerings deposited by members of the military or whole units to ensure the success of their various undertakings. This not only matches their findspots well, but also finds several analogies in the context of finds outside of Dacia.

Selon une idée largement répandue, l’Homme ne fut en mesure de tirer pleinement profit du cheval qu’à partir du Moyen Age en raison de l’apparition d’avancées techniques majeures à cette période de l’histoire. A en croire la liste des accessoires hippiques supposés médiévaux, l’Antiquité n’a quasiment rien produit et le rôle du cheval n’était que secondaire. Pourtant, dès l’Antiquité tardive, la place de cet animal gagne considérablement en importance dans la cavalerie et la production hippiatrique qui connaît un essor sans précédent vient confirmer ce nouveau rôle. Or, sans la mise en place de certains accessoires hippiques, tels les étriers, la force animale ne pouvait pas être utilisée au mieux.
La question de l’époque à laquelle sont apparus les étriers est donc fondamentale pour mieux comprendre et apprécier à leur juste valeur certains changements intervenus dans l’Antiquité tardive. Aussi, à la lumière de découvertes archéologiques récentes et à l’aide de l’étude des termes utilisés en grec pour désigner l’étrier, nous remettons en question la date de son apparition et, par conséquent, l’origine de son introduction dans la cavalerie protobyzantine. Le but final de cette contribution est de redéfinir la place du cheval aux IVe-VIe siècles, place prédominante liée très étroitement à l’utilisation d’accessoires hippiques majeurs tels que les étriers.

This paper will present all preserved fragments of armour from the " Roshava Dragana " burial mound in Bulgaria. This is the first assessment of its type for this date set. Armour found in burials can be attributed to two or three types; they include the remains of chain mail, fragments of scale framework and badly preserved plate set. This armament was staffed with an excellent quality silvered Roman face-mask helmet. Apart from this helmet, the suit of armament was not Roman, having either a Sarmatian or Parthian origin. The most intriguing comes from burial 2 at " Roshava Dragana " mound where Sarmatian tamgas on the golden pommel of the sword and on the bronze belt's buckle and images of two-headed dogs on the plates of the armour were discovered. The burial-mound is one of the largest of the mounds in Bulgaria in which influential and respected nobleman may have been buried. In our opinion, the most important and respected man in the neighborhood was Titus Flavius Dinis, the son of Skeles of the tribe Quirina. He was archiereus of so called koinon Thrakon – the general assembly of the cities in the province of Thrace. It is possible that villa Chatalka and burial mound " Roshava Dragana " were connected with the Dinis family. Although there is no direct evidence for the participation of Dinis in campaigns against the Sarmatians and Dacians. But some parts of defensive armament from " Roshava Dragana " mound can be attributed as a trophy. Based on the analysis of the remaining elements of the armour, we can assume that many of them have parallels on the Sarmatian territory and in armament of neighbouring regions. Apparently, this armour could have been made in Panticapaeum, since the only parallel for a two-headed dog image, like on the armour, has been found there.

The article introduces a bimetallic spur found at the Central Gnezdovo settlement in 2012. The spur consists of a bronze cast bow-shaped heel band with а steel prick riveted through a bronze biconical socket. Spurs have been previously found in burials of the Smolensk long barrow culture and in the hillforts and settlements of Bantserovschina and Tushemlya, sites of the Uzmen’-Zaozerye type in Belarus, Pskov and Smolensk regions. Most of these spurs belong to more primitive forms with terminals in the form of buttons or hooks. The analogies to the studied item are mainly localized on the territory Western Baltic cultures on the Sam- bian peninsula (Kaliningad region), in the Masuri- an Lakeland and in the South-West of Lithuania. A total of 22 spots with finds of such spurs has been recorded. In the work of U. Gisler (1978) this se- ries is attributed to the group E (west Baltic group). Their origin relates to the Roman provincial types
of cavalry equipment which became widespread in the 3rd–4th centuries throughout the Roman Empire and the Barbaricum. Two separate groups among the “west Baltic group” of finds have been identified. The first one is dated to the second half of the 4th – early 5th century and is localized mainly on the Sambian Peninsula, while the second group belongs to the second or third quarter of the 5th
– early 6th century and predominantly originates from Lithuania’s South-West.
Based on several features the spur from Gnezdo- vo is similar to the second group and therefore can be attributed to the Migration period. Its ap- pearance in the Smolensk region may be associat- ed with the war of the 5th century, evidenced by a trail of burned hillforts and numerous finds of the three-lobed rhombic arrowheads of the “Hun” type found from Western Lithuania to the Upper Oka and the Volga region.

This paper investigates the decorations imbued with an apotropaic protectional quality used on the harnass of Roman horses by first examining the depictions of horses to
see which amulets appear and where they are worn, before
looking at the archaeological finds of amulets themselves. These can be grouped according to their connection with sexuality (male/female/neutral).

A view on the Roman cavalry Forces, especially the equites legionis. The article describes a possible organizational chart of the legionary cavalry Formation in imperial times. By analyzing Primary sources the organization, command and Manpower of the equites legionis will be described in a new manner.

There is also given a view on auxiliary cavalry organization and command to demonstrate differences between auxiliary cavalry, legionary horsemen and equites singuläres Augusti.

As Primary sources often times contradict each other and epigraphy or papyrology only can give snapshots of situations, it is not an easy work to take a look on the legionary cavalry in Roman imperial times. But combining all sources given a proper view on the subject and so this article will give a new examination. Because of the discrepanscies, which already are given by Primary sources the article only can be a try to open more discussions in this Special subject.

ATHENAION Volume pubblicato con il contributo del Dipartimento di Studi archeologici, filologici e storici dell'Università di Catania È vietata la traduzione, la memorizzazione elettronica, la riproduzione totale e parziale, con qualsiasi mezzo, compresa la fotocopia, anche ad uso interno o didattico Impaginazione e progetto grafico a cura di Athenaion

The first Roman and Corinthian cavalry N. Sekunda Cito parare victoriam, cito cedere: Roman cavalry tactics during the late Republic and the Principate M. Petitjean Cohortes equitatae: a conundrum D. J. Breeze GENERAL STUDIES 'Trapp'd in silver': Roman cavalry equipment revisited M. C. Bishop 47 Pimp my ride: early Imperial cavalry, saddle plates, and longreining M. C. Bishop What was a cavalrytype of Roman greave in the first century AD? B. Burandt Evening the odds: apotropaic protection for horses S. Hoss On bangles and horses. The use and abuse of RomanoBritish glass bangles on military and indigenous sites in Romanperiod Britain T. Ivleva Eine Kopfniete mit dem Relief des Nero S. Ortisi REGIONAL AND LOCAL STUDIES Spurensuche zur Reiterei im Legionslager von Nimwegen S. WeissKonig Bits and pieces: 1stcentury horse gear from Roman military sites on the Lower Rhine M. Zandstra Virtus at the limes: a cavalry sports shield boss from Welzheim (Germany) A. Thiel Roman cavalry equipment and other militaria from the 2010 and 2011 excavations at Ptuj (Slovenia) J. Istenic Traces of Roman cavalry in Poetovio M. Vomer Gokovic RECONSTRUCTION STUDIES

Thirteen military bronze objects were recently found at ancient Tarraco and the site of La Devesa (El Vendrell, Tarragona). All the bronzes were from archaeological urban and rural sites, showing a relationship between the civil and military worlds.

Delivered at the Roman Finds Group Spring Conference
"New Research on Finds from the Roman South-West:
The Roman Finds Group and the University of Exeter, 16–17 April 2021"

This presentation will consider the finds evidence for the presence of the army during the early years of Roman Bath. The assemblage of small finds from the excavation at the junction of Bathwick Street and Henrietta Road in Bath provides a starting point for an exploration of possible activities carried out at the site. Of particular interest within the context of Roman Bath is the quantity of objects with military associations. The excellent stratigraphic documentation of the excavation facilitated secure dating of most finds and might even provide one of the earliest dates so far for the use of Newstead type lorica segmentata.

This paper explores the origins of the horse games (hippika gymnasia) of the Roman imperial army. It argues that the equestrian displays lengthily described by Arrian in his tactical treatise were borrowed from the Gallic and Iberian Celts, who formed the most important part of the Roman auxiliary cavalry at the end of the Republic and at the beginning of the Principate. Mask helmets were worn by the most renowned horsemen during these games. The first examples of such masks in Roman context can be found on triumphal representations celebrating victories over Celtiberian or Gallic foes. The evidence suggests that they were initially made of organic materials, like the over-modelled or plastered skull masks that could adorn public monuments in pre-Roman Gaul. From the end of the 1st century BC onward, they began to adopt the form of full metal helmets and were progressively adapted to the Greco-Roman taste. The idea that the hippika gymnasia were borrowed from the Roman equestrian parade called the lusus Troiae and that mask helmets were part of an old Italic tradition should, therefore, be abandoned.

N a naszym rynku zaczyna stopniowo przybywać prac poruszających, zaniedbywane dotychczas zagadnienia związane z historią antyczną. Jedną z nich jest praca Piotra Letkiego 1 , poruszająca tematykę jazdy rzymskiej z okresu późnego cesarstwa doby panowania Dioklecjana. Książka składa się z czterech rozdziałów, z których każdy stanowi osobną całość. W rozdziale pierwszym Autor omówił źródła antyczne oraz literaturę tematu. W następnym przedstawił reformy konnicy rzymskiej od Galliena do Dioklecjana. Dwa ostatnie natomiast poświęcił przedstawieniu uzbrojenia i wyposażenia oraz taktyki jazdy rzymskiej. Na początku Autorowi należą się słowa uznania za poruszoną w książce tematykę starożytnej historii wojskowości. Takie pozycje z pewnością zmierzają do poprawy sytuacji na naszym rodzimym rynku wydawniczym. Autor korzystał przy tym nie tylko z ogromnej literatury tematu, zgromadzonej w bibliografii, ale również z antycznych źródeł epigraficznych, numizmatycznych i pisanych. Następny plus należy się za prostą, ale jasną strukturę monografii, ułatwiającej czytelnikowi zapoznanie się z poszczególnymi kwestiami omawianymi na jej łamach. Zaletą jest również stosowanie porównawczej metody badań, chociaż u niektórych pewne wątpliwości może budzić odwoływanie się do czasów republikańskich. Jasny i klarowny tok wykładu Autora, przystępny dla każdego czytelnika to kolejny już plus. Praca posiada również i pewne niedociągnięcia. Poza literówkami można znaleźć drobne potknięcia merytoryczne. Na stronie 82 Autor pisze o tym, że Konstantyn w 312 r. był jedynowładcą, aby na następnej podać, że toczył walki z Licyniuszem. Ponadto niektóre dokonane przez niego przekłady z literatury antycznej mogą zostawiać wiele do życzenia. Bibliografia opracowania składa się z 34 stron, na których umieszczono zarówno pisarzy antycznych, ale też autorów piszących po polsku, angielsku, francusku i niemiecku. Składają się na nią zarówno klasyczne prace badaczy z XIX i początku XX w., jak i współczesnych, dzięki czemu może ona stanowić wstęp do poszerzenia swojej wiedzy w tym temacie.

Die Reiter - Attribute des fruehromischen Adels - Die Phalerae - Der Goldring als Kennzeichen des Reiterprivilegs - Die Trabea - Der Calceus Patricius - Der Purpustreifen der Tunika - Rueckblick auf die Ergebnisse - Die politische Rolle und die Entwicklung der Adelsreiterei - Domi - Militiae - Die aelteste Reiterei - Die Verdoppelung der Staatspferdnahber - Die Achtzehn Reitercenturien der sogenannten Servianischen Reform - Das Ansehen der alten Reiterei.

Paper on a substantial group of cavalry equipment, part of a very large assemblage of  militaria from the middle Walbrook valley area of Roman London. Amongst the important finds were several articulated groups of harness components. The chronology of the assemblage, its mode of deposition and its significance to our understanding of the military presence in London is considered.