The Horse That Ate the Legion: Rome’s Cavalry's Triumph Over the Infantry

The Horse That Ate the Legion: Rome’s Cavalry's Triumph Over the Infantry

The cavalry 'wings' that probed ahead of the Roman Army played a key role in its campaigns of conquest, masking its marching flanks and seeking to encircle enemies in battle. However, at the very beginning of Rome’s history, it didn’t even have a cavalry, and relied on Greek-style phalanx formations instead. It began as a small cavalry arm provided by the citizen nobility, but this had proved inadequate before the end of the Republic, and Julius Caesar's cavalry was largely made up of hired allies. During the Early Principate, the armies under Augustus continued in this vein, incorporating large numbers of non-citizen auxiliary cavalry units. The provinces came under increasing attack throughout and following the chaotic mid-3rd century, and Rome took lessons from its 'barbarian' enemies in how to improve its military mobility, adopting both new, heavily armored shock cavalry and horse-archers, and vitally shaping the tactics employed during the Dominate.

Today’s guest is Mike Bishop, author of “Roman Cavalry Tactics.” We discuss how the cavalry grew to become the dominant force in Roman field armies by the twilight of the Western Empire. Eight newly commissioned artwork plates and a rich selection of artefact photographs and archaeological sources provide vivid detail and insight, helping to bring to the life the evolving tactics, clothing and weaponry of Rome's cavalry from the 2nd century BC through to the 5th century AD.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episoder(1078)

The East’s Auschwitz: How Imperial Japan’s Secret Experimenters Escaped Justice

The East’s Auschwitz: How Imperial Japan’s Secret Experimenters Escaped Justice

During the Holocaust, Josef Mengele discarded every medical ethic to perform horrific human experiments at Auschwitz, including non-consensual vivisections, limb transplants, and agonizing surgeries c...

24 Feb 44min

The Chemistry of Conquest: Behind the USSR’s State-Sponsored (and Steroid-Powered) Olympic Glory

The Chemistry of Conquest: Behind the USSR’s State-Sponsored (and Steroid-Powered) Olympic Glory

Since the era of Joseph Stalin, Moscow’s rulers have sent Russian athletes into the Summer and Winter Olympics with one command: you must win. These competitors operated under a "win-at-all-costs" doc...

19 Feb 1h 3min

Daniel Boone’s Life as a Frontiersman and Adopted Son of a Shawnee Chief

Daniel Boone’s Life as a Frontiersman and Adopted Son of a Shawnee Chief

Daniel Boone is considered one of the United States' first folk heroes for his exploration beyond the thirteen colonies into Kentucky. His exploits are rightfully legendary. He famously rescued his da...

17 Feb 42min

The Loss and Re-Discovery of the $20 Billion Imperial Spanish Treasure Ship

The Loss and Re-Discovery of the $20 Billion Imperial Spanish Treasure Ship

The most valuable shipwreck of all time is the San José galleon—an 18th century Spanish ship that carried 11 million gold coins, silver, and emeralds—and worth $20 billion in today's currency. It sunk...

12 Feb 51min

Thomas Willing: The Revolutionary War Arms Dealer Who Led the First Bank of the United States

Thomas Willing: The Revolutionary War Arms Dealer Who Led the First Bank of the United States

America’s revolutionary war would have almost certainly been lost if not for the colony’s wealthiest merchant. Thomas Willing was a prominent Philadelphia merchant and financier who, in partnership wi...

10 Feb 54min

The Man Who Sold the War: Tom Paine's Journey from Common Sense to Global Firebrand

The Man Who Sold the War: Tom Paine's Journey from Common Sense to Global Firebrand

Most of us only know Thomas Paine for one thing: writing Common Sense in 1776, which helped kickstart the Revolution by selling hundreds of thousands of copies. But he was far more than a writer. Pain...

5 Feb 44min

The Original Body Builders: How Greek Halteres and Celtic Gabal Stone Lifts Built the World's First Strongmen

The Original Body Builders: How Greek Halteres and Celtic Gabal Stone Lifts Built the World's First Strongmen

Fad workouts have been with us for decades, but they go back much further than we realize. Long before CrossFit, Zumba, P90X, Tae Box, Jazzercise or Jack LaLanne, we had 19th century strongmen. These ...

3 Feb 48min

Truman’s Deep Regret at the Atomic Age He Created

Truman’s Deep Regret at the Atomic Age He Created

In the eight decades since the United States deployed the most destructive weapon ever used, conventional wisdom has held that American leaders were faced with a difficult choice: Invade Japan, which ...

29 Jan 57min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
konspirasjonspodden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
min-barneoppdragelse
grenselos
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
wolfgang-wee-uncut
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
fladseth
alt-fortalt
opptur-med-annette-og-ingeborg