Roman Auxiliary Cavalryman

When the army deployed for battle it was the infantry who were expected to form up in the centre to fight the main action and deliver the crushing blow. However, the success of the cavalry in protecting the flanks and defeating the enemy cavalry could decide the outcome. The cavalry of the Principate employed a mix of skirmish and shock tactics and was effectively trained and equipped for both. Arrian, in his description of the hippika gymnasia, devotes four chapters in the Tactica (36–39) to the use of the javelin: ‘throwing their javelins in as heavy and continuous a rate of fire as possible’ (36.3), ‘they must carry as many javelins as they can throw … provides nothing more than a continuous rate of fire and incessant din’ (37.1). Of course, the short-shafted lightweight javelin used here would only be accurate over short distances; the heavier lancea would have been more accurate, albeit with a shorter range.