Equites singulares

The Equites singulares were a cavalry troop in the Roman Empire , which acted as a guard of the emperor or a governor.

The mounted Imperial Guard, equites singulares Augusti , supplemented the Praetorian Guard, which consisted of foot soldiers . It was founded by Germanic bodyguards under the Flavians , reinforced under Trajan and dissolved under Constantine after the battle of the Milvian Bridge , in which they fought on the side of his adversary Maxentius .

The Ala initially consisted of 16 turmae of 32 men and was commanded by a praefectus equitum . Under Diocletian the strength was increased from 512 to 1,000 men. The soldiers came from the auxiliary troops , with Germanic tribes initially , and since Septimius Severus also Pannonians and Dacians preferred. The usual period of service was 25 years. When the soldiers took up their duties, they automatically received Roman citizenship .

The cavalry unit was housed in two barracks on the outskirts of Rome . The older Castra priora equitum singularium were on the Caelius , near today's Via Tasso. Between 193 and 197 the Castra nova equitum singularium were obtained in the Lateran . This area was made available after the dissolution of the unity of the Church; there the church of San Giovanni in Laterano was built. A similar fate befell the Unity Cemetery on the third milestone of Via Labicana . It was also built over by the Christian basilica Santi Marcellino e Pietro .

In addition to the equites singulares Augusti in Rome, there were also equites singulares in the provinces, where they formed the mounted guard of a governor or a legionary legate . (The rider Tiberius Claudius Maximus , known for his detailed epitaphs, was at times singularis of the legate of the VII Legion.) They were recruited from existing cavalry units of the province and commanded by a legionary centurion as praepositus . An eques singularis often only served temporarily in this function and then returned to its original unit.

See also

• List of ranks and branches of service in the Roman army

literature

• J. Brian Campbell: Equites singulares. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 4, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01474-6 .
• Michael P. Speidel : The equites singulares Augusti. Accompanying troops of the Roman emperors of the second and third centuries (= Antiquitas. Series 1: Treatises on ancient history. Vol. 11, ISSN  0066-4839 ). Habelt, Bonn 1965 (also: Freiburg i.Br., Univ., Diss., 1962).
• Michael P. Speidel: Guards of the Roman armies. An essay on the singulares of the provinces (= Antiquitas. Series 1: Treatises on ancient history. Vol. 28). Habelt, Bonn 1978, ISBN 3-7749-1428-1 .
• Michael P. Speidel: The monuments of the Kaiserreiter. = Equites singulares Augusti (= Bonner Jahrbücher. Supplements 50). Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne and Habelt, Bonn 1994, ISBN 3-7927-1189-3 .
• Michael P. Speidel: Riding for Caesar. The Roman emperors' horse guards. Batsford, London 1994, ISBN 0-7134-6750-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pedro Barceló : The Roman Empire in the Religious Change of Late Antiquity. Emperor and bishops in conflict . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7917-2529-1 , p. 47.