CHAP. III.] 



ROMAN CAVALRY. 



98 



nsive 

 laped, 

 whole 

 they 

 simi- 

 icker- 

 They 

 the 

 )f the 

 st the 



d. 71. 



Romans, and obtained spoils of armour from the slain or 

 the prisoners, and although traders from Rome and 

 neighbouring countries were welcomed among them, it 

 is strange that they did not improve their defensive 

 armour, for they appear to have rarely or ever used the 

 cuirass or helmet/ 



Their oflFensive weapons consisted gimply of a lance, 

 or small pike, called a.framea, which had a short point 

 of iron sharpened. It was used as a lance generally, 

 although sometimes thrown as a javelin. The right to 

 carry this weapon was bestowed upon no one who was 

 not worthy or qualified to bear arms, so that when a 

 young man arriv^ed at the age when he was considered 

 able to take his place in the ranks, one of the chiefs, or 

 some relative, handed to him in the public assembly the 

 framea and the buckler.^ This public ceremony made 

 him a soldier, and seems to have given him a vote in the 

 assemblies, for the people were always under arms when 

 discussing any public affairs.^ 



Their horses were not very good, nor were they in the 

 habit of buying valuable animals, as seems to have been 

 the custom among the Gauls. They preferred their own 

 native horses, which were of a very poor quality, but 

 which by continual exercise they were able to render 

 very hardy and useful.* 



The German cavalry often leaped from their horses to 

 fight on foot like the early Romans, and they taught 

 them to stand steady until they returned to them. They 

 rode them with'-ut pad or saddle-cloth of any kind, and 

 dismounted and remounted with surprising agility. The 

 custom of using pads to ride upon was considered among 

 them as a gross luxury, and a shameful evidence of 

 efieminacy ; so much so, that no matter how few they 

 were, they would attack without hesitation a large body 

 of cavalry equipped with saddle-cloth and pads.^ 



An instance of this occurred when Caesar was fighting 

 against the Suevi, who invaded Gaul in great numbers 

 in the year 55 B.C. A skirmish took place near the river 



' Duparcq, 212. 2 Boutaric, 46. ^ Bardin, 2412. * Csesoi-, 

 iv. 2. 6 Ibid. 



