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A comment on What did British officers think of the American civil war as it was happening?. Parent comment

Re:What did British officers think of the American civil war... by scheme271 on Friday May 20, 2022 @07:54PM (#31454000)
During the early republic, only the richest could equipment themselves but my understanding is that the Marian reforms changed this by professionalizing the army and having the general of a legion supply the soldiers with their weapons.

Also, the thing about a village supporting one cavalry soldier seems off. The roman army focused on infantry with cavalry being supplied by allied forces.

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Re:What did British officers think of the American civil war... by p_l on Wednesday May 25, 2022 @07:59AM (#31503283)
Roman cavalry is often forgotten, but a considerable portion of social class all the way back to Roman Republic and I think pre-republic kingdom was existence of a class wealthy enough to fight as cavalry.

They were of course small compared to infantry legions, and as the Republic and later Empire expanded they frequently hired auxiliaries, especially from a more cavalry focused groups.

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Re:What did British officers think of the American civil war... by scheme271 on Tuesday May 31, 2022 @12:57AM (#31566252)
Sure, equites were an established social class but didn't that devolve to just a class without the training on horseback by the late republic and certainly by imperial rome. It seems like it made more sense for the imperial army to have auxilia handle cavalry, missile troops, and other functions.
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Re:What did British officers think of the American civil war... by Talanes on Saturday May 21, 2022 @12:40AM (#31455278)
>Also, the thing about a village supporting one cavalry soldier seems off. The roman army focused on infantry with cavalry being supplied by allied forces.

Also possible that they're thinking of the Roman Kingdom and the Equites?

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