Customer Reviews

The Roman Cavalry

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Basically, I like this book. It is quite similiar to "The Roman Soldier" by G.R. Watson. It moves along very well without becoming tedious, as many other books of this type can. The author covers many subjects pertaining to the Roman cavalry itself, like unit organization and equipment. But, also covers the life of the individual soldier. From recruitment, training, and conditions of service, to how the cavalry was deployed in combat. The author also makes a number of comparisons between the cavalryman and the infantryman of the Roman Legion. This book has taken a subject that has been poorly covered in the past and made it very readable. I highly recommend it.

Over thirty years ago Graham Webster wrote "The Roman Imperial Army". It used the forensic approach, with each chapter looking at the soldiers uniforms, daily exsistence, equipment, organization, leadership, training, installations, and of curse how the Roman Army fought it's many wars. Webster's book has since become the touchstone for this area. Some fifteen years ago Dr. Lawrence Keppie wrote The Making Of the Roman Army. Taking the political viewpoint he showed the evolution of the Roman Army from the days of the late Republic to the early Empire. together the two books make a fine set. The Roman Cavalry completes it. Long overlooked by historians thanks to only sketchy information from Roman writers ( the Romans were not horse people ) this work sets out to fill in some gaps. Relying not only on Roman works, but cavalry works from before the Roman Empire and as recently as the nineteenth century the authors manage to fill in those areas which until now have remained blank. The writers also rely on recent archeological finds that have helped to broaden our knowledge of the Roman cavalry. Not suprisingly they have choosen to follow Graham Webster's approach amd each chapter deals with a certain aspect of the horse soldier. Their equipment and weapons, training and recruitment, daily living, tactics and battle, religion, etc. Handsomely illustrated the book is very readable, never lagging, and well researched. A very admirable effort considering the lack of research material.

The author uses information from classical sources combined with archaeological findings and data from 19th and early 20th century European records to give a fairly detailed picture of the Roman cavalry over a period of several centuries. We learn about the recruitment, training, and equipment of both men and horses and their shared life together. Although I would have liked to see a little more detail in certain sections, this is a good overview. I notice that Dixon has also co-authored a study of Roman cavalry equipment, which may have the color plates this volume lacks.

Contents: Sources; Origins, unit strength, organization and titulature; Equipment and unit armament styles; Recruitment; Conditions of service; Training; The hippika gymnasia; The employment of cavalry in peacetime and wartime; Military records and the supply of horses; Roman cavalry mounts; Stables and grooming; Water and food supply; Welfare; Baggage animals. Well illustrated with line drawings and black and white photographs.

I want to tell you another time: boring. Southern and Dixon give a lot of info, conjectures and photos but fail (or don't want) to give narrative. In their work they speak to the scholar and not the curious or the amateur of this particular subject and don't care to amuse anybody. I must point out that this work is very exaustive, describing equipment, enlistment, parades and everything regarding roman cavalry.
When they got no evidence for a singular aspect they speculates comparing and quoting reagulations of 18th and 19th centuries armies.
If you (like me) read Davies "Service in the roman army" and Vegetius "Epitoma rei militaris like" you'll find that you are reading many passages for the second time in a different book. This is normal, but if you have good memory the result will be skipping several lines. If you love the subject this is a must. Beware, untill chapter 8 (147 pages) your reading will be a pleasure but not very amusing (the latter obviously, is not the goal of the book); chapters 9-14 (91 pages) are a titanic struggle for anyone but the (living) horse fanatic. I reached the end 'cause I felt the task a sort of mission but, doing this, I moved some steps towards depression. The last comment is: read it because is well written and covers every aspect of roman cavalry (4 stars) but BEWARE THE BORING ASPECT.