Praetorian Cavalry, First Dacian War 101/2  1. Vexillarius  2. Optio 3. Trooper

equites singulares augusti: The emperor’s own horse guards for the first three centuries of the Principate, these provided an elite cavalry force to support the Praetorian Guard. They were recruited from the pick of the troopers in the provincial alae, and enjoyed very favourable service conditions and good chances of promotion (first to third century AD).

The Equites Singulares Augusti were formed around the end of the 1st c. CE, most probably by the emperor Trajan, who ruled from 98-117 CE. They served as the emperor’s personal cavalry escort, a concept which derived from the original “hand-picked” (i.e., singular) bodyguards who served in the retinue of a provincial Roman governor.

Trajan had been adopted by the emperor Nerva while serving as governor of Upper Germany. Nerva, unpopular with the Praetorians in Rome for his suspected involvement in the murder of their benefactor Domitian, needed an heir who could command sufficient loyalty among the regular army to counterbalance the animus of the Praetorian Guard. Trajan, with the eight formidable Rhine legions behind him, proved the ideal candidate.

The reasons behind the creation of the Equites Singulares Augusti probably relate closely to the precarious political situation Trajan found himself in at the time of his accession to the imperial throne, only one year after his adoption as heir. As governor of Upper Germany, Trajan already possessed a picked group of singulares, who naturally accompanied him upon his journey to Rome, where he would be vulnerable to Praetorian intrigues and far from his loyal legions in the north. Out of his former provincial bodyguard, Trajan formed the nucleus of the new Imperial Guard Cavalry.

Subsequently, the Guard singulares were individually detached for temporary duty from among the crack auxiliary cavalry units (alae) serving on the Rhine and Danubian frontiers. At the expiration of their three-year term of service in the Guard Cavalry, singulares would return to their original auxiliary units.

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Equites Singulares are provincial horse guards formed with the best horsemen a regional army has to offer and accompany their commanders into battle. These units are mostly equipped and fight in the manner as normal Roman cavalry. However sometimes better or additional armour, such as greaves, is worn, that is most times even more highly elaborated than in the ordinary Alae. Besides their body armour the horsemen of the equites singulares, wear iron helmets and long oval or hexagonal shields for protection, while every rider is armed with a either type Mainz gladius or Celtic style long sword, ancestors of the spatha, the first real roman cavalry sword, a hasta lance and several iacula, light javelins. Like most of the imperial army’s cavalry, they use the famous four horned saddle, which enables a firm seat in almost all occasions. In battle the equites singulares often proved to be one of the most powerful units. When a capable general leads them personally they can turn the fight in critical moments.

Historically, from the early Principate onwards, imperial governors, who normally also commanded all the military stationed in their province, were protected by their own horse guards, mostly raised from the regular alae units in the local army. Contrary to the men selected for the later equites singulares augusti, these picked horsemen remained in the lists of their original units and were only temporary transferred to the guards. During the decades of his rule following the end of the civil war, Augustus reformed the imperial army significantly and created a standing army with 28 legions as its core. In many fields a systematic approach replaced the improvisation of the late republican era. Most important was that the auxilia, with its indispensable cavalry and archer units, became a regular arm of the professional army and its second base. Trained to the same high standards of the legions they should cooperate with, these excellent soldiers were equipped in the Roman fashion, and well commanded first by proven Centurions, transferred from the legions, and later by a corps of equestrian officers. Their soldiers were mostly recruited from amongst the peregrines, free provincials without roman citizenship, who either volunteered for service or accepted a draft into it. However, the transformation of the auxilia did not happen over night and the irregular contingents of soldiers supplied by allied tribes and vassal states did not disappear all at once. While the large majority of the alae (pure cavalry units where the need for regular forces was more urgent) were reorganized during Augustus reign, the infantry followed much more slowly, lingering in the old fashions until the later years of the 1st century AD. The length of service for all soldiers was finally set to 26 years for fleet soldiers, 25 years for soldiers of the auxilia, 20 years for legionaries, and 16 years for praetorians. After their discharge they received a cash bonus, the praemia militare, or a small piece of land. The veterans from the auxilia and the fleet were rewarded with Roman citizenship, and a diploma to prove it. Also, medical treatment was improved and all units were now supplied with physicians.