MiniArt 72014 Roman Cavalry IV-V Century

In the period of the Republic and the early Empire, the Roman army relied primarily on legionary infantry, treating cavalry (including equites) as secondary. It was assigned reconnaissance and reconnaissance tasks, army insurance during the march and wing protection during the battle. However, in the late Empire, starting with the so-called During the crisis of the 3rd century (AD 235-284), the role of the cavalry in the Roman army began to increase, although - contrary to the claims sometimes encountered - it did not dethrone the infantry as the main type of armed forces of the Roman Empire. This tendency resulted from several factors, but the main factors may be the necessity to engage in an equal fight with the very good cavalry of the Sassanid State, as well as the necessity of relatively quick transfer of military units from one region of the country to another. Without a doubt, however, in the late Empire, the role of cavalry in the Roman army increased significantly. There were also several types of it, including: mauri and dalmatea (light cavalry), clibanarii (cavalry modeled on the same unit in the Sassanid army), bucelarii (mercenary / mercenary cavalry composed of Germans) or scutarii (probably heavy cavalry) . It is worth adding, however, that it is sometimes difficult to clearly identify particular types and tasks of the Roman cavalry from the 4th-5th centuries AD.