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    • The Corpus Equitum
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The Corpus Equitum Legionis X Equestris

The reconstruction of a Roman armed trooper and his mounting in fighting outfit.

At the time of Emperor August every legion had a trooper unit. These 120 troopers were both legionnaires as well as Roman civilians.

The legionnaire was a soldier of an elite infantry. During his military training he was learned how to ride a horse and how to fight in that position. The troopers of the Corpus Equitum were reliable men. They were chosen from the legionnaires (both soldiers and officers) according their military merits. They formed an elite corps of scouts, messengers, transport protectors, but they also guarded the envoys of the ambassador, the governor and later on even the emperor of Rome. The name Equestris refers to the tenth legion, the famous and beloved legion of Julius Caesar. During the war with the Gaulish, Caesar raised for the first time an army of legion troupers (in order to create a counter-balance in quality to the German chief Arioviste.) The name disappears towards the end of the era of August.

Other than the auxiliaries of the troop unit – the wings (alae) – and the mixed troops of riders and infantry (cohortes equitatae), that existed of free men that were not Roman civilians, there is only little written indications, sepulchral columns or other letterings available regarding the legionnaires' horsemen. Yet among the findings there are numerous indications of the military quality of these troops, such as military decorations (rolls of metallic wire, etc)