Turmae: Troop or Squadron

[mcbishop]

I think it is clear they were fluid groups of men and horses commanded by a decurion and every now and then a "Master of Horse" like Mark Antony (or should that be Marcus Antonius?!) or a Prefect.

That's presumably 'fluid' in the sense that nobody can agree how many men* there were in a turma or whether to count the decurio! It is of course environmentally sounder (fewer trees die, less electricity needs to be generated) just to use 'ala' rather than 'cavalry regiment'. :-)

Mike Bishop

* I am shamelessly using 'men' instead of equites; I do hope nobody minds ;-)