Cavalry name

[Pericles of Rhodes]

Back to the cavalry issue:

Most people will tell you that there were no shields but Hereon (Temple of Hera) in Samos depicts horsemen with shields and most heavy horsemen in pottery are describes as "mounted hoplites" but this is very convenient in my opinion.:

I very much agree Stefanos!

I’m sure I have read somewhere, in some modern books (one may have been an Osprey), that that Greek horsemen didn’t carried shields; but I have found a large number of pottery, statuettes and carvings from the Greek mainland and colonies that shows that Greek cavalrymen did carry shields on horseback not only strapped to the back, as in your example from the National Museum Athens, but held on the left arm ready, it would seem, for use. Perhaps if the shield is slung on the back, while riding, it is being transported to battle rather than used on horseback but if it is held in the arm it suggests it is in use on horseback.

We don't usually see them fighting that ways though. And I wonder,were they actually fighting on horseback dressed like hoplites.

It is clear that there were lightly armoured cavalrymen who did not carry shields, but it seems fairly clear that some did. The best way to prove their use in a cavalry battle would be an ‘action shot’ of one in cavalry use however. The closest I’ve got to this is in the pottery image here (attached) from the Beasley Archive.

It dates from 575-525 and although it was found in Bologna it describes it’s ‘fabric’ as Athenian. I assume this means that is where it was made. It shows lines of marching hoplites and the cavalrymen, riding fast/charging it would seem, with shields in their left hand and drawn swords. This seems plain that the cavalrymen are about to engage in battle with their shields.