A Study On The Functions Of Roman Cavalry In The Repubican Period

The early history of Roman cavalry is based on the legend and speculation, andthe historia escrita goes back to the Roman Republic. The ancient Roman historians,such as Polybius and Livy, have no specific chapters on the Roman cavalry in theirworks, but make it as a significance in several battles during the Second Punic War.In this paper, the author begins with the origin of Roman cavalry and emphasizesthe functions of cavalry during the Second Punic War. And arranges and measures thedebates applying to the classics and modern scholar's researches. During hundreds ofyears, the Roman cavalry played an important role in Roman military expansion or forthe equites no matter of its small quantity. Particularly in the battles against Hannibal,one side equipping with the cavalry is used to win. The author tries to explore itsreasons. In the battles of Canae and Zama, the Roman cavalry played a key role toturn failure into success. Research shows that Hannibal won victory of the former partof the Second Punic War due to valuing the cavalry which is Alexander'stactics——the Battle of Canae is a model. Romans especially Scipio Africanuslearned the lesson to change their tactics and valued the cavalry. At the same time,Romans brought forth new ideas in the use of cavalry, such as the Battle of Zama.Rome finally won the Second Punic War and embarked on the road to conquer theworld.The Roman cavalry had been taken place gradually by the cavalry from Gaul,Spain and Africa until 1st century B.C., but their contributions were never indelible inthe history of Roman military. In this paper, the author begins with the militaryresearch focusing on the historic missions and functions of the Roman cavalry anddiscusses their historical status and military influences caused by the political,economic and social factors in the Roman Republic.