10-18-2006, 07:17 PM
Are the Batavians worth discussing in this thread? They are well mentioned in several accounts of cavalry use, their feats of achievement as horsemen documented as being able to ford rivers in full kit (and rather bold on the offensive, reading the tale of Chariovalda, first Batavian mentioned by name, only to be ambushed and killed during a rather unwise dash across the river). The Batavians were a Germanic tribe from around Trier, relocated to the Limes of Germania Inferior, revolting in the Year of the Four Emperors under Claudius Civilis, who made peace only after flattening most of the castella along the Limes in 69 AD. It is unlikely they only took up horse-riding after the Romans came along and they are describes as fighting mounted, as far as I have gathered. This would point to other tribes, not affiliated to Rome, doing the same.
