Tower
A turma ( Latin for "swarm"; plural turmae ) was the smallest tactical unit of cavalry in ancient Rome .
etymology
The name turma is related to the Latin noun turba , which means turmoil / crowd or tumult / noise and in the figurative sense swarm, crowd or crowd.
Rome
It originated in the Roman Republic and initially consisted of 30, later 33 riders under the command of a Decurio . Their standard was probably a vexillum . In the early days ten turmae were assigned to a legion .
During the imperial era, the cavalry , which was directly subordinate to each legion, consisted of four towers , which were primarily used for reconnaissance and the transmission of orders. The Ala -called separate tab units were at that time the so-called auxiliary troops and had 16 Turmae each with 30/33 riders ( ala quingenaria , nominally 500 men strong) or 24 Turmae with 40 riders ( ala milliaria , nominally 1,000 men).
In late antiquity , the cavalry units of various sizes were evidently referred to as the tower , as the crews were up to 500 men.
Byzantium
The Tourma or Turma refers to an administrative unit in the Byzantine Empire . Each theme was typically divided into 2-3 tourma, which in turn were divided into several Droungoi and Banda . Depending on the size of the subject, a tourma could contain up to 5,000 men. The commander of a Tourma was called a Tourmarch.
It is true that in the tactics of Leo VI. explains that the old term Meros was replaced by the term Tourma, but the author kept the term to denote the tactical unit.
literature
- Marcus Junkelmann: The riders of Rome . Part 2. The military use . Zabern, Mainz 1991, ISBN 3-8053-1139-7