what was the function of the Roman cavalry?

[Robert Vermaat]

A thing we regularly do on RAT is take it to a hypothetical Roman vs. Roman scenario. But the primary purpose of the Roman army was to fight other nations.

Purpose, indeed, but i've read that the Roman army spent more time fighting Romans than other nations/tribes.

You're gonna have to prove that, sorry :wink: I think it's biased towards late Empire, and completely discounting the early era where campaigns were more or less annual, give or take a few decades. If citizens had to serve twenty years before the age of forty-six, then they had to give them something to do when they turned up for service each year, surely? There was always some other city-state being a pest and in need of sorting out or putting in its place, and I don't think the spolia on the walls, or the required scars, were from Romans.

Mmmh. New thread? Could be interesting.