equites
Sign in to saveThe ' (; , though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an ' ().
Article
29 sectionsContents
- Description
- Regal era (753–509 BC)
- Early Republic (509–338 BC)
- Later Republic (338–30 BC)
- Transformation of state and army (338–290)
- Political role
- Military officer role
- Cavalry role
- Ethos
- Business activities
- Privileges
- Augustan equestrian order (Principate era)
- Differentiation of the senatorial order
- ''Ordo equester'' under Augustus
- Equestrian public careers
- Relations with the emperor
- Oligarchical rule in the early Principate (to 197 AD)
- Equestrian hierarchy
- Equestrians in the later Empire (AD 197–395)
- Rise of the military equestrians (3rd century)
- Idle aristocracy (4th century)
- Notes
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- Ancient
- Modern
- Further reading
- External links
The ' (; , though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an ' ().
==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 (hundreds) of cavalry (300 horses for each consular legion). Around 400BC, 12 more 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 . These new recruits came from the first class of commoners in the Centuriate Assembly organisation, and were not granted the same privileges.