equestrian (Roman)

The ''equites'' (; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though sometimes referred to as " knights" in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an ''eques'' ().

Description

During the Roman kingdom and the first century of the Roman Republic, legionary cavalry was recruited exclusively from the ranks of the patricians, who were expected to provide six '' centuriae'' of cavalry (300 horses for each consular legion). Around 400BC, 12 more ''centuriae'' of cavalry were established and these included non-patricians ( plebeians). Around 300 BC the Samnite Wars obliged Rome to double the normal annual military levy from two to four legions, doubling the cavalry levy from 600 to 1,200 horses. Legionary cavalry started to recruit wealthier citizens from outside the 18 ''centuriae''. These new recruits came from the first class of commoners in the Centuriate Assembly organisation, and were not granted the same privileges.

By the time of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC), all the members of the first class of commoners were required to serve as cavalrymen. The presence of ''equites'' in the Roman cavalry diminished steadily in the period 200–88 BC as only ''equites'' could serve as the army's senior officers; as the number of legions proliferated fewer were available for ordinary cavalry service. After 88 BC, ''equites'' were no longer drafted into the legionary cavalry, although they remained technically liable to such service throughout the Principate era (to AD 284). They continued to supply the senior officers of the army throughout the Principate.

With the exception of the purely hereditary patricians, the ''equites'' were originally defined by a property threshold. The rank was passed from father to son, although members of the order who at the regular quinquennial (every five years) census no longer met the property requirement were usually removed from the order's rolls by the Roman censors. In the late republic, the property threshold stood at 50,000 '' denarii'' and was doubled to 100,000 by the emperor Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – AD 14) – roughly the equivalent to the annual salaries of 450 contemporary legionaries. In the later republican period, Roman senators and their offspring became an unofficial elite within the equestrian order.

Under Augustus, the senatorial elite was given formal status (as the ''ordo senatorius'') with a higher wealth threshold (250,000 ''denarii'', or the pay of 1,100 legionaries) and superior rank and privileges to ordinary ''equites''. During the Principate, ''equites'' filled the senior administrative and military posts of the imperial government. There was a clear division between jobs reserved for senators (the most senior) and those reserved for non-senatorial ''equites''. But the career structure of both groups was broadly similar: a period of junior administrative posts in Rome or Roman Italy, followed by a period (normally a decade) of military service as a senior army officer, followed by senior administrative or military posts in the provinces. Senators and ''equites'' formed a tiny elite of under 10,000 members who monopolised political, military and economic power in an empire of about 60 million inhabitants.

During the 3rd century AD, power shifted from the Italian aristocracy to a class of ''equites'' who had earned their membership by distinguished military service, often rising from the ranks: career military officers from the provinces (especially the Balkan provinces) who displaced the Italian aristocrats in the top military posts, and under Diocletian (ruled 284–305) from the top civilian positions also. This effectively reduced the Italian aristocracy to an idle, but immensely wealthy, group of landowners. During the 4th century, the status of ''equites'' was debased to insignificance by excessive grants of the rank. At the same time the ranks of senators were swollen to over 4,000 by the establishment of the Byzantine Senate, a second senate in Constantinople and the tripling of the membership of both senates. The senatorial order of the 4th century was thus the equivalent of the equestrian order of the Principate.

Regal era (753–509 BC)

According to Roman legend, Rome was founded by its first king, Romulus, in 753 BC. However, archaeological evidence suggests that Rome did not acquire the character of a unified city-state (as opposed to a number of separate hilltop settlements) until 625BC.

Roman tradition relates that the Order of Knights was founded by Romulus, who supposedly established a cavalry regiment of 300 men called the '' Celeres'' ("Swift Squadron") to act as his personal escort, with each of the three Roman "tribes" (actually voting constituencies) supplying 100 horses. This cavalry regiment was supposedly doubled in size to 600 men by King Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (traditional dates 616–578 BC). That the cavalry was increased to 600 during the regal era is plausible, as in the early republic the cavalry fielded remained 600-strong (two legions with 300 horses each). However, according to Livy, King Servius Tullius (traditional reign-dates 578–535 BC) established a further 12 ''centuriae'' of ''equites'', a further tripling of the cavalry. Yet this was probably anachronistic, as it would have resulted in a contingent of 1,800 horse, incongruously large, compared to the heavy infantry, which was probably only 6,000 strong in the late regal period. Instead, the additional 12 ''centuriae'' were probably created at a later stage, perhaps around 400 BC, but these new units were political not military, most likely designed to admit plebeians to the Order of Knights.

Apparently, ''equites'' were originally provided with a sum of money by the state to purchase a horse for military service and for its fodder. This was known as an ''equus publicus''.Livy I.43

Theodor Mommsen argues that the royal cavalry was drawn exclusively from the ranks of the patricians (''patricii''), the aristocracy of early Rome, which was purely hereditary. Apart from the traditional association of the aristocracy with horsemanship, the evidence for this view is the fact that, during the republic, six ''centuriae'' (voting constituencies) of ''equites'' in the '' comitia centuriata'' (electoral assembly) retained the names of the original six royal cavalry ''centuriae''. These are very likely the "''centuriae'' of patrician nobles" in the ''comitia'' mentioned by the lexicologist Sextus Pompeius Festus. If this view is correct, it implies that the cavalry was exclusively patrician (and therefore hereditary) in the regal period. (However, Cornell considers the evidence tenuous).

Early Republic (509–338 BC)

It is widely accepted that the Roman monarchy was overthrown by a patrician coup, probably provoked by the Tarquin dynasty's populist policies in favour of the plebeian class. Alfoldi suggests that the coup was carried out by the ''celeres'' themselves. According to the Fraccaro interpretation, when the Roman monarchy was replaced with two annually elected ''praetores'' (later called "consuls"), the royal army was divided equally between them for campaigning purposes, which, if true, explains why Polybius later said that a legion's cavalry contingent was 300 strong.

The 12 additional ''centuriae'' ascribed by Livy to Servius Tullius were, in reality, probably formed around 400 BC. In 403 BC, according to Livy, in a crisis during the siege of Veii, the army urgently needed to deploy more cavalry, and "those who possessed equestrian rating but had not yet been assigned public horses" volunteered to pay for their horses out of their own pockets. By way of compensation, pay was introduced for cavalry service, as it had already been for the infantry (in 406 BC).

The persons referred to in this passage were probably members of the 12 new ''centuriae'' who were entitled to public horses, but temporarily waived that privilege. Mommsen, however, argues that the passage refers to members of the first class of commoners being admitted to cavalry service in 403 BC for the first time as an emergency measure. If so, this group may be the original so-called ''equites'' ''equo privato'', a rank that is attested throughout the history of the republic (in contrast to ''equites'' ''equo publico''). However, due to a lack of evidence, the origins and definition of ''equo privato'' ''equites'' remain obscure.

It is widely agreed that the 12 new ''centuriae'' were open to non-patricians.Online 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica ''equites'' Thus, from this date if not earlier, not all ''equites'' were patricians. The patricians, as a closed hereditary caste, steadily diminished in numbers over the centuries, as families died out. Around 450 BC, there are some 50 patrician '' gentes'' (clans) recorded, whereas just 14 remained at the time of Julius Caesar (dictator of Rome 48–44 BC), whose own Iulii clan was patrician.Oxford ''Patricians''

In contrast, the ranks of ''equites'', although also hereditary (in the male line), were open to new entrants who met the property requirement and who satisfied the Roman censors that they were suitable for membership. As a consequence, patricians rapidly became only a small minority of the equestrian order. However, patricians retained political influence greatly out of proportion with their numbers. Until 172 BC, one of the two consuls elected each year had to be a patrician.

In addition, patricians may have retained their original six ''centuriae'', which gave them a third of the total voting-power of the ''equites'', even though they constituted only a tiny minority of the order by 200 BC. Patricians also enjoyed official precedence, such as the right to speak first in senatorial debates, which were initiated by the ''princeps senatus'' (Leader of the Senate), a position reserved for patricians. In addition, patricians monopolized certain priesthoods and continued to enjoy enormous prestige.

Later Republic (338–30 BC)

Transformation of state and army (338–290)

The period following the end of the Latin War (340–338 BC) and of the Samnite Wars (343–290) saw the transformation of the Roman Republic from a powerful but beleaguered city-state into the hegemonic power of the Italian peninsula. This was accompanied by profound changes in its constitution and army. Internally, the critical development was the emergence of the Senate as the all-powerful organ of state.Cornell (1995) 369

By 280 BC, the Senate had assumed total control of state taxation, expenditure, declarations of war, treaties, raising of legions, establishing colonies and religious affairs, in other words, of virtually all political power. From an ''ad hoc'' group of advisors appointed by the consuls, the Senate had become a permanent body of around 300 life peers who, as largely former Roman magistrates, boasted enormous experience and influence. At the same time, the political unification of the Latin nation, under Roman rule after 338 BC, gave Rome a populous regional base from which to launch its wars of aggression against its neighbours.

The gruelling contest for Italian hegemony that Rome fought against the Samnite League led to the transformation of the Roman army from the Greek-style ''hoplite'' phalanx that it was in the early period, to the Italian-style manipular army described by Polybius. It is believed that the Romans copied the manipular structure from their enemies the Samnites, learning through hard experience its greater flexibility and effectiveness in the mountainous terrain of central Italy.Cornell (1995) 354

It is also from this period that every Roman army that took the field was regularly accompanied by at least as many troops supplied by the '' socii'' (Rome's Italian military confederates, often referred to as "Latin allies"). Each legion would be matched by a confederate ''ala'' (literally: "wing"), a formation that contained roughly the same number of infantry as a legion, but three times the number of horses (900).

Legionary cavalry also probably underwent a transformation during this period, from the light, unarmoured horsemen of the early period to the Greek-style armoured cuirassiers described by Polybius. As a result of the demands of the Samnite hostilities, a normal consular army was doubled in size to two legions, making four legions raised annually overall. Roman cavalry in the field thus increased to approximately 1,200 horses.

This now represented only 25% of the army's total cavalry contingent, the rest being supplied by the Italian confederates. A legion's modest cavalry share of 7% of its 4,500 total strength was thus increased to 12% in a confederate army, comparable with (or higher than) any other forces in Italy except the Gauls and also similar to those in Greek armies such as Pyrrhus's.

Political role

Despite an ostensibly democratic constitution based on the sovereignty of the people, the Roman Republic was in reality a classic oligarchy, in which political power was monopolised by the richest social echelon. Probably by 300 BC, the ''centuriate'' organisation of the Roman citizen body for political purposes achieved the evolved form described by Polybius and Livy. The ''comitia centuriata'' was the most powerful people's assembly, as it promulgated Roman laws and annually elected the Roman magistrates, the executive officers of the state: consuls, '' praetors'', '' aediles'' and ''quaestors''.Cornell (1995) 379-80

In the assembly, the citizen body was divided into 193 ''centuriae'', or voting constituencies. Of these, 18 were allocated to ''equites'' (including patricians) and a further 80 to the first class of commoners, securing an absolute majority of the votes (98 out of 193) for the wealthiest echelon of society, although it constituted only a small minority of the citizenry. (The lowest class, the ''proletarii'', rated at under 400 ''drachmae'', had just one vote, despite being the most numerous).

As a result, the wealthiest echelon could ensure that the elected magistrates were always their own members. In turn, this ensured that the senate was dominated by the wealthy classes, as its membership was composed almost entirely of current and former magistrates.

Military officer role

In the "''polybian''" army of the mid-republic (338 – 88 BC), ''equites'' held the exclusive right to serve as senior officers of the army. These were the six ''tribuni militum'' in each legion who were elected by the ''comitia'' at the start of each campaigning season and took turns to command the legion in pairs; the ''praefecti sociorum'', commanders of the Italian confederate ''alae'', who were appointed by the consuls; and the three '' decurions'' that led each squadron ('' turma'') of legionary cavalry (a total of 30 ''decurions'' per legion).

Cavalry role

As their name implies, ''equites'' were liable to cavalry service in the legion of the mid-republic. They originally provided a legion's entire cavalry contingent, although from an early stage (probably from c. 400 and not later than c. 300 BC), when equestrian numbers had become insufficient, large numbers of young men from the first class of commoners were regularly volunteering for the service, which was considered more glamorous than the infantry.

The cavalry role of ''equites'' dwindled after the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), as the number of equestrians became insufficient to provide the senior officers of the army and general cavalrymen as well. ''Equites'' became exclusively an officer-class, with the first class of commoners providing the legionary cavalry.

Ethos

From the earliest times and throughout the Republican period, Roman ''equites'' subscribed, in their role as Roman cavalrymen, to an ethos of personal heroism and glory. This was motivated by the desire to justify their privileged status to the lower classes that provided the infantry ranks, to enhance the renown of their family name, and to augment their chances of subsequent political advancement in a martial society. For ''equites'', a focus of the heroic ethos was the quest for '' spolia opima'', the stripped armour and weapons of a foe whom they had killed in single combat. There are many recorded instances. For example, Servilius Geminus Pulex, who went on to become Consul in 202 BC, was reputed to have gained ''spolia'' 23 times.

The higher the rank of the opponent killed in combat, the more prestigious the ''spolia'', and none more so than ''spolia duci hostium detracta'', spoils taken from an enemy leader himself. Many ''equites'' attempted to gain such an honour, but very few succeeded for the reason that enemy leaders were always surrounded by large numbers of elite bodyguards.

One successful attempt, but with a tragic twist, was that of the decurion Titus Manlius Torquatus in 340 BC during the Latin War. Despite strict orders from the consuls (one of whom was his own father) not to engage the enemy, Manlius could not resist accepting a personal challenge from the commander of the Tusculan cavalry, which his squadron encountered while on reconnaissance. There ensued a fiercely contested joust with the opposing squadrons as spectators. Manlius won, spearing his adversary after the latter was thrown by his horse. But when the triumphant young man presented the spoils to his father, the latter ordered his son's immediate execution for disobeying orders. "Orders of Manlius" (''Manliana imperia'') became a proverbial army term for orders that must on no account be disregarded.

Business activities

In 218 BC, the ''lex Claudia'' restricted the commercial activity of senators and their sons, on the grounds that it was incompatible with their status. Senators were prohibited from owning ships of greater capacity than 300 ''amphorae'' (about seven tonnes) – this being judged sufficient to carry the produce of their own landed estates but too small to conduct large-scale sea transportation.

From this time onwards, senatorial families mostly invested their capital in land. All other equestrians remained free to invest their wealth, greatly increased by the growth of Rome's overseas empire after the Second Punic War, in large-scale commercial enterprises including mining and industry, as well as land. Equestrians became especially prominent in tax farming and, by 100 BC, owned virtually all tax-farming companies (''publicani'').

During the late Republican era, the collection of most taxes was contracted out to private individuals or companies by competitive tender, with the contract for each province awarded to the ''publicanus'' who bid the highest advance to the state treasury on the estimated tax-take of the province. The ''publicanus'' would then attempt to recoup his advance, with the right to retain any surplus collected as his profit. This system frequently resulted in extortion from the common people of the provinces, as unscrupulous ''publicani'' often sought to maximise their profit by demanding a much higher rates of tax than originally set by the government. The provincial governors whose duty it was to curb illegal demands were often bribed into acquiescence by the ''publicani''.Encyclopædia Britannica Online ''Publicani''

The system also led to political conflict between ''equites publicani'' and the majority of their fellow-''equites'', especially senators, who as large landowners wanted to minimise the tax on land outside Italy (''tributum solis''), which was the main source of state revenue.Talbert (1996) 341 This system was terminated by the first Roman emperor, Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – 14 AD), who transferred responsibility for tax collection from the ''publicani'' to provincial local authorities (''civitates peregrinae''). Although the latter also frequently employed private companies to collect their tax quotas, it was in their own interests to curb extortion. During the imperial era, tax collectors were generally paid an agreed percentage of the amount collected. ''equites publicani'' became prominent in banking activities such as money-lending and money-changing.

Privileges

The official dress of equestrians was the ''tunica angusticlavia'' (narrow-striped tunic), worn underneath the toga, in such a manner that the stripe over the right shoulder was visible (as opposed to the broad stripe worn by senators.Talbert (1996) 326) ''equites'' bore the title ''eques Romanus'', were entitled to wear an ''anulus aureus'' (gold ring) on their left hand, and, from 67 BC, enjoyed privileged seats at games and public functions (just behind those reserved for senators).Jones (1964) 8

Augustan equestrian order (Principate era)

Differentiation of the senatorial order

The Senate as a body was formed of sitting senators, whose number was held at around 600 by the founder of the ''Principate'', Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – AD 14) and his successors until 312. Senators' sons and further descendants technically retained equestrian rank unless and until they won a seat in the Senate. But Talbert argues that Augustus established the existing senatorial elite as a separate and superior order ''(ordo senatorius)'' to the ''equites'' for the first time. The evidence for this includes:
* Augustus, for the first time, set a minimum property requirement for admission to the Senate, of 250,000 ''denarii'', two and a half times the 100,000 ''denarii'' that he set for admission to the equestrian order.
* Augustus, for the first time, allowed the sons of senators to wear the ''tunica laticlavia'' (tunic with broad purple stripes that was the official dress of senators) on reaching their majority even though they were not yet members of the Senate.
* Senators' sons followed a separate ''cursus honorum'' (career-path) to other ''equites'' before entering the Senate: first an appointment as one of the ''vigintiviri'' ("Committee of Twenty", a body that included officials with a variety of minor administrative functions), or as an ''augur'' (priest), followed by at least a year in the military as ''tribunus militum laticlavius'' (deputy commander) of a legion. This post was normally held before the tribune had become a member of the Senate.
* A marriage law of 18 BC (the ''lex Julia'') seems to define not only senators but also their descendants unto the third generation (in the male line) as a distinct group. There was thus established a group of men with senatorial rank (''senatorii'') wider than just sitting senators (''senatores'').

A family's senatorial status depended not only on continuing to match the higher wealth qualification, but on their leading member holding a seat in the Senate. Failing either condition, the family would revert to ordinary knightly status. Although sons of sitting senators frequently won seats in the Senate, this was by no means guaranteed, as candidates often outnumbered the 20 seats available each year, leading to intense competition.

''Ordo equester'' under Augustus

As regards the equestrian order, Augustus apparently abolished the rank of ''equo privato'', according all its members ''equo publico'' status. In addition, Augustus organised the order in a quasi-military fashion, with members enrolled into six '' turmae'' (notional cavalry squadrons). The order's governing body were the ''seviri'' ("Committee of Six"), composed of the "commanders" of the ''turmae''. In an attempt to foster the ''equites'' ''esprit de corps'', Augustus revived a defunct republican ceremony, the ''recognitio equitum'' (inspection of the ''equites''), in which ''equites'' paraded every five years with their horses before the consuls. At some stage during the early Principate, ''equites'' acquired the right to the title "egregius" ("distinguished gentleman"), while senators were styled "''clarissimus''", "most distinguished").

Beyond ''equites'' with ''equus publicus'', Augustus' legislation permitted any Roman citizen who was assessed in an official census as meeting the property requirement of 100,000 ''denarii'' to use the title of ''eques'' and wear the narrow-striped tunic and gold ring. But such "property-qualified ''equites''" were not apparently admitted to the ''ordo equester'' itself, but simply enjoyed equestrian status.Jones (1964) 7, 8Encyclopædia Britannica Online ''Ancient Rome''

Only those granted an ''equus publicus'' by the emperor (or who inherited the status from their fathers) were enrolled in the order. Imperial ''equites'' were thus divided into two tiers: a few thousand mainly Italian ''equites equo publico'', members of the order eligible to hold the public offices reserved for the ''equites''; and a much larger group of wealthy Italians and provincials (estimated at 25,000 in the 2nd century) of equestrian status but outside the order.Jones (1964) 7, 8

Equestrians could in turn be elevated to senatorial rank (e.g., Pliny the Younger), but in practice this was much more difficult than elevation from commoner to equestrian rank. To join the upper order, not only was the candidate required to meet the minimum property requirement