Cavalry support

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

I was reading recently that Aalen,Germany(Ratia) was
home to 1000 cavalry garrisoned there.
Would there have been any foot soldiers supporting
them ? Surely with that many horses and riders there
had to have been.

[Marius_Ursus]

I haven't read anything specifically about that garrison, but from the location, I'd guess they were support troops in case of any incursions across the Germanian frontier. There was a garrison of Romans in Rainau about four miles away, and if I recall correctly there were castella at approximately five mile intervals all up and down the borders of the empire, so I'd think being a mobile force, the cavalry would be used as a classical version of a quick-reaction force.

Can anyone support (or correct) me with more solid information?

[Carlton Bach]

AFAIK Aalen was a cavalry fort behind the limes line and home to a reaction force. In planned operation, the ala would not have operated alone, of course. The Romans rewgarded cavalry as the supporting arms of infantry, so basically they are the secondaries called on as needed. And in a crunch, Roman cavalrymen were able to fight on foot.

Also, while Aalen was technically the 'home base' of a cavalry unit, we can not at all be sure whether it wasn't home at some point to parts of infantry cohorts or even legionaries. We know from Vindolanda that groups of soldiers were often posted away from their unit's technical 'home'.

[Marius_Ursus]

Yeah, what he said.

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

Hi,all,and thanks for the responses thus far.

The reason I asked about Aalen was I have been to
the Limas museum there (and it's my wife's hometown).

Livius.org states that while a normal cavalry installation
was usually 500 strong, the fort at Aalen was home to 1000.
That made me wonder how much support personnel was required
for a cav unit. If everyone was in garrison it must have been a
city unto itself.
extra thanks to Volker Bach for having knowledge specific to
the area.

[D B Campbell]

For a valuable insight into the placing of cavalry units, see:
D.J. Breeze, "Cavalry on frontiers: Hadrian to Honorius", in: D.F. Clark (ed.), The Later Roman Empire Today (London: Institute of Archaeology, 1993), pp. 19-35, with some nice maps.

Breeze notes that cavalry regiments are often placed at the head of an "invasion route", or at least a line of advance.
"When a legion was not available to control a route, a cavalry unit might be substituted, as occurred at Aalen in Raetia and at Linz in Noricum" (p.28 ).

Interestingly, like many legionary fortresses, Aalen lay some way behind the limes. There were, of course, other units nearby, chiefly mixed cohortes equitatae.

[Carlton Bach]

Livius.org states that while a normal cavalry installation
was usually 500 strong, the fort at Aalen was home to 1000.
That made me wonder how much support personnel was required
for a cav unit. If everyone was in garrison it must have been a
city unto itself.

The 1000 men is perfectly normal. Your standard ala is 'quingenary' - consisting of 500 men - but some alae, including the one based at Aalen, were milliary - double strength, consisting of 1000 men. And yes, we do not know how much support personnel, slaves and civilians there were. On the one hand, Roman troops were supposed to be pretty much self-sufficient. On the pother hand, plentsy of cavalry gravestones show calones - 'grooms', possibly of servile status and certainly supernumerary to unit strength.

Do you read German? The 'Schriftenreihe des Limesmuseums Aalen' has a ratrher comprehensive history of the place out.

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

Thanks again,Carlton.
I do read German a little. I can make out
some of it and I have help at home.
I'll see if I can find it.
I'm happy to see you have so much info about
the site.
Thanks,

[Carlton Bach]

Good luck! It's not actually me having that much info, it's just that Aalen is sort of around the corner for some of the best experts on the topic.

You can find a catalogue of the 'Schriften des LImesmuseums' here

http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/ymu/sqh ... 2.HTM#publ

The ones that might interest you particularly are this:

Philipp Filtzinger
Limesmuseum Aalen - Großer Führer
Stuttgart 1971, 2., erweiterte Auflage 1975, 3. erweiterte Auflage 1983, 4. Auflage 1991,
5. Auflage (Tübingen 2004 - Internetversion)


And this:

Martin Kemkes und Jörg Scheuerbrand
Zwischen Patrouille und Parade - Die römische Reiterei am Limes
Stuttgart 1998

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

Vielen dank,again,Carlton.
I know Tuebingen,too.

[TraderTrey9785]

From what I have read, vexillations were very common in the Roman military, so it is likely that some form of a mixed unit was stationed there. If not a whole legion of infantry, definitely a cohort or two. It wouldn't make much sense to have an entire fortress guarded by just cavalry. Goldsworthy's Roman Army at War seems to back the common event of mixed units on the frontier.

Best of luck!

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

Thanks,Terti,
I've been wanting to get Goldsworthy but opted for
JRMES instead.
I was thinking along those lines,too.
It seemed reasonable also that the
Equestrian class would have others for
more menial tasks.
Vale.