The Cavalry of the Roman Republic

Roman cavalry has often been treated as a secondary arm overshadowed by the legionary infantry. Jeremiah B. McCall challenges that assumption by examining the organisation, recruitment and battlefield role of mounted troops during the Roman Republic and asking how cavalry fitted into Rome’s changing military and social structures.

McCall traces the relationship between citizen cavalry, the equestrian order and the increasing use of allied and auxiliary horsemen, reassessing traditional claims about Roman weakness in mounted warfare. By combining literary evidence with close analysis of republican military practice, he shows that cavalry remained an important and adaptable component of Roman armies even as its composition changed. A focused scholarly study for readers interested in the Roman Republic, military institutions and the development of Roman warfare.