06-08-2010, 02:46 AM
This quite a specialist subject of course, and hardly a best-seller which goes a long way to explaining the price for a (relatively) short book - some 200 pages or so.
As mentioned, it really refers to the middle Republic, and is specifically about the Roman citizen 'equites' roughly 300 BC to their demise in the first C BC. In essence, it is McCall's PhD Thesis in book form, and as such is probably more for the specialist reader then the general one, and of course excellently referenced in footnotes/endnotes, well indexed and has a full bibliography.
It's eight chapters cover:
1 Cavalry service and elite reputations: the
problem of the citizen cavalry’s disappearance P.1
-sets out service, and the myth that Roman citizen cavalry were 'ineffective', hence replaced by 'auxiliary' cavalry, and demonstrates that this view is completely wrong.
2 Assessing the Roman cavalry’s military
effectiveness P.13
- gives details of the history of the citizen cavalry, setting out its many successes until meeting Hannibal's cavalry, and subsequent changes to equipment etc as recorded by Polybius, see also....
3 Equipment and tack P.26
-examines the equipment of the Roman citizen cavalry.
4 Roman cavalry tactics circa 300–100 P.53 -self explanatory.
5 Combat motivation: cavalry service and elite
reputations P.78 - the importance of 'virtus' and service in the 'equites' as the path to distinction.
6 Dating the disappearance of the citizen cavalry
corps P.100 -discussion of just when service as cavalry by 'Equites' died out.
7 Alternative sources of prestige and the end of
citizen cavalry service P.114 - how the 'Equites' as a class grew so wealthy that military service as mere cavalry troopers died out due to social and economic change.
8 Conclusion P.137
All in all, an excellent book that successfully debunks a long-held myth - that Roman citizen cavalry were not much good. Is it worth the money? As the only work on its subject matter, it is up to the reader to decide for themselves whether their interest justifies the price..........
As mentioned, it really refers to the middle Republic, and is specifically about the Roman citizen 'equites' roughly 300 BC to their demise in the first C BC. In essence, it is McCall's PhD Thesis in book form, and as such is probably more for the specialist reader then the general one, and of course excellently referenced in footnotes/endnotes, well indexed and has a full bibliography.
It's eight chapters cover:
1 Cavalry service and elite reputations: the
problem of the citizen cavalry’s disappearance P.1
-sets out service, and the myth that Roman citizen cavalry were 'ineffective', hence replaced by 'auxiliary' cavalry, and demonstrates that this view is completely wrong.
2 Assessing the Roman cavalry’s military
effectiveness P.13
- gives details of the history of the citizen cavalry, setting out its many successes until meeting Hannibal's cavalry, and subsequent changes to equipment etc as recorded by Polybius, see also....
3 Equipment and tack P.26
-examines the equipment of the Roman citizen cavalry.
4 Roman cavalry tactics circa 300–100 P.53 -self explanatory.
5 Combat motivation: cavalry service and elite
reputations P.78 - the importance of 'virtus' and service in the 'equites' as the path to distinction.
6 Dating the disappearance of the citizen cavalry
corps P.100 -discussion of just when service as cavalry by 'Equites' died out.
7 Alternative sources of prestige and the end of
citizen cavalry service P.114 - how the 'Equites' as a class grew so wealthy that military service as mere cavalry troopers died out due to social and economic change.
8 Conclusion P.137
All in all, an excellent book that successfully debunks a long-held myth - that Roman citizen cavalry were not much good. Is it worth the money? As the only work on its subject matter, it is up to the reader to decide for themselves whether their interest justifies the price..........
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
