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The "equites" (/ˈɛkwɪtiːz/; Latin: "eques" nom. singular; sometimes referred to as "knights" in modern times) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an "eques." Description During the Roman kingdom and the 1st century of the Roman Republic, legionary cavalry was recruited exclusively from the ranks of the patricians, who were expected to provide six "centuriae" of cavalry (300 horses for each consular legion). Around 400 BC,12 more "centuriae" of cavalry were established and these included non-patricians (plebeians). Around 300 BC the Samnite Wars obliged Rome to double the normal annual military levy from two to four legions, doubling the cavalry levy from 600 to 1,200 horses. Legionary cavalry started to recruit wealthier citizens from outside the 18 "centuriae." These new recruits came from the first class of commoners in the "Centuriate Assembly" organisation and were not granted the same privileges. " By the time of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC), all the members of the first class of commoners were required to serve as cavalrymen. The presence of "equites" in the Roman cavalry diminished steadily in the period 200–88 BC as only "equites" could serve as the army's senior officers; as the number of legions proliferated fewer were available for ordinary cavalry service. After c. 88 BC, "equites" were no longer drafted into the legionary cavalry, although they remained technically liable to such service throughout the "principate" era (to AD 284). They continued to supply the senior officers of the army throughout the "principate." With the exception of the purely hereditary patricians, the "equites" were originally defined by a property threshold. The rank was passed from father to son, although members of the order who at the regular quinquennial census no longer met the property requirement were usually removed from the order's rolls by the Roman censors. In the late republic, the property threshold stood at 50,000 "denarii" and was doubled to 100,000 by the emperor Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – AD 14) – roughly the equivalent to the annual salaries of 450 contemporary legionaries. In the later republican period, Roman senators and their offspring became an unofficial elite within the equestrian order. As senators' abilities to engage in commerce was strictly limited by law, the bulk of non-agricultural activities were in the hands of non-senatorial equites. As well as holding large landed estates, "equites" came to dominate mining, shipping and manufacturing industry. In particular, tax farming companies (publicani) were almost all in the hands of "equites." Under Augustus, the senatorial elite was given formal status (as the "ordo senatorius") with a higher wealth threshold (250,000 "denarii," or the pay of 1,100 legionaries) and superior rank and privileges to ordinary "equites." During the "principate," "equites" filled the senior administrative and military posts of the imperial government. There was a clear division between jobs reserved for senators (the most senior) and those reserved for non-senatorial "equites." But the career structure of both groups was broadly similar: a period of junior administrative posts in Rome or Italy, followed by a period (normally a decade) of military service as a senior army officer, followed by senior administrative or military posts in the provinces. Senators and "equites' formed a tiny elite of under 10,000 members who monopolised political, military and economic power in an empire of about 60 million inhabitants. During the 3rd century AD, power shifted from the Italian aristocracy to a class of equites who had earned their membership by distinguished military service, often rising from the ranks: career military officers from the provinces (especially the Balkan provinces) who displaced the Italian aristocrats in the top military posts, and under Diocletian (ruled 284–305) from the top civilian positions also. This effectively reduced the Italian aristocracy to an idle, but immensely wealthy, group of landowners.During the 4th century, the status of "equites" was debased to insignificance by excessive grants of the rank. At the same time the ranks of senators were swollen to over 4,000 by the establishment of a second senate in Constantinople and the tripling ofthe membership of both senates. The senatorial order of the 4th century was thus the equivalent of the equestrian order of the "principate." Regal era (753–509 BC) According to Roman legend, Rome was founded by its first king, Romulus, in 753 BC. However, archaeological evidence suggests that Rome did not acquire the character of a unified city-state (as opposed to a number of separate hilltop settlements) until ca.625 BC. Roman tradition relates that the Order of Knights was founded by Romulus, who supposedly established a cavalry regiment of 300 men called the "Celeres" ("Swift Squadron") to act as his personal escort, with each of the three Roman "tribes" (actually voting constituencies) supplying 100 horse. This cavalry regiment was supposedly doubled in size to 600 men by King Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (traditional dates 616–578 BC). That the cavalry was increased to 600 during the regal era is plausible, as in the early republic the cavalry fielded remained 600-strong (two legions with 300 horses each). However, according to Livy, King Servius Tullius (traditional reign-dates 578–535 BC) established a further 12 "centuriae" of "equites," a further tripling of the cavalry.[4] But this is probably anachronistic, as it would have resulted in a contingent of 1,800 horse, incongruously large, compared to the heavy infantry, which was probably only 6,000-strong in the late regal period. Instead, the additional 12 centuriae were probably created at a later stage, perhaps around 400 BC, but these new units were political not military, most likely designed to admit plebeians to the Order of Knights. Apparently, "equites" were originally provided with a sum of money by the state to purchase a horse for military service and for its fodder. This was known as an "equus publicus." Mommsen argues that the royal cavalry was drawn exclusively from the ranks of the patricians ("patricii"), the aristocracy of early Rome, which was purely hereditary. Apart from the traditional association of the aristocracy with horsemanship, the evidence for this view is the fact that, during the republic, six "centuriae" (voting constituencies) of "equites" in the "comitia centuriata' (electoral assembly) retained the names of the original six royal cavalry "centuriae." These are very likely the "'centuriae' of patrician nobles" in the "comitia" mentioned by the lexicologist Sextus Pompeius Festus. If this view is correct, it implies that the cavalry was exclusively patrician (and therefore hereditary) in the regal period. (However, Cornell considers the evidence tenuous). Early republic (509–338 BC) It is widely accepted that the Roman monarchy was overthrown by a patrician coup, probably provoked by the Tarquin dynasty's populist policies in favor of the plebeian class. Alfoldi suggests that the coup was carried out by the "celeres" themselves. According to the Fraccaro interpretation, when the Roman monarchy was replaced with two annually elected "praetores" (later called "consuls"), the royal army was divided equally between them for campaigning purposes, which, if true, explains why Polybius later said that a legion's cavalry contingent was 300-strong. The 12 additional "centuriae" ascribed by Livy to Servius Tullius were, in reality, probably formed around 400 BC. In 403 BC, according to Livy, in a crisis during the siege of Veii, the army urgently needed to deploy more cavalry, and "those who possessed equestrian rating but had not yet been assigned public horses" volunteered to pay for their horses out of their own pockets. By way of compensation, pay was introduced for cavalry service, as it had already been for the infantry (in 406 BC). The persons referred to in this passage were probably members of the 12 new "centuriae" who were entitled to public horses, but temporarily waived that privilege. Mommsen, however, argues that the passage refers to members of the first class of commoners being admitted to cavalry service in 403 BC for the first time as an emergency measure. If so, this group may be the original so-called "equites equo privato," a rank that is attested throughout the history of the republic (in contrast to "equites equo publico"). However, due to a lack of evidence, the origins and definition of "equo privato equites" remain obscure. It is widely agreed that the 12 new "centuriae" were open to non-patricians. Thus, from this date if not earlier, not all "equites" were patricians. The patricians, as a closed hereditary caste, steadily diminished in numbers over the centuries, as families died out. Around 450 BC, there are some 50 patrician "gentes" (clans) recorded, whereas just 14 remained at the time of Julius Caesar (dictator of Rome 48–44 BC), whose own Iulii clan was patrician. In contrast, the ranks of "equites," although also hereditary (in the male line), were open to new entrants who met the property requirement and who satisfied the Roman censors that they were suitable for membership. As a consequence, patricians rapidly became only a small minority of the equestrian order. However, patricians retained political influence greatly out of proportion with their numbers. Until 172 BC, one of the two consuls elected each year had to be a patrician. In addition, patricians may have retained their original six "centuriae," which gave them a third of the total voting-power of the equites, even though they constituted only a tiny minority of the order by 200 BC. Patricians also enjoyed official precedence, such as the right to speak first in senatorial debates, which were ..

The "equites" (/ˈɛkwɪtiːz/; Latin: "eques" nom. singular; sometimes referred to as "knights" in modern times) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an "eques."

Description
During the Roman kingdom and the 1st century of the Roman Republic, legionary cavalry was recruited exclusively from the ranks of the patricians, who were expected to provide six "centuriae" of cavalry (300 horses for each consular legion). Around 400 BC,12 more "centuriae" of cavalry were established and these included non-patricians (plebeians). Around 300 BC the Samnite Wars obliged Rome to double the normal annual military levy from two to four legions, doubling the cavalry levy from 600 to 1,200 horses. Legionary cavalry started to recruit wealthier citizens from outside the 18 "centuriae." These new recruits came from the first class of commoners in the "Centuriate Assembly" organisation and were not granted the same privileges.
"
By the time of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC), all the members of the first class of commoners were required to serve as cavalrymen. The presence of "equites" in the Roman cavalry diminished steadily in the period 200–88 BC as only "equites" could serve as the army's senior officers; as the number of legions proliferated fewer were available for ordinary cavalry service. After c. 88 BC, "equites" were no longer drafted into the legionary cavalry, although they remained technically liable to such service throughout the "principate" era (to AD 284). They continued to supply the senior officers of the army throughout the "principate."

With the exception of the purely hereditary patricians, the "equites" were originally defined by a property threshold. The rank was passed from father to son, although members of the order who at the regular quinquennial census no longer met the property requirement were usually removed from the order's rolls by the Roman censors. In the late republic, the property threshold stood at 50,000 "denarii" and was doubled to 100,000 by the emperor Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – AD 14) – roughly the equivalent to the annual salaries of 450 contemporary legionaries.

In the later republican period, Roman senators and their offspring became an unofficial elite within the equestrian order. As senators' abilities to engage in commerce was strictly limited by law, the bulk of non-agricultural activities were in the hands of non-senatorial equites. As well as holding large landed estates, "equites" came to dominate mining, shipping and manufacturing industry. In particular, tax farming companies (publicani) were almost all in the hands of "equites."

Under Augustus, the senatorial elite was given formal status (as the "ordo senatorius") with a higher wealth threshold (250,000 "denarii," or the pay of 1,100 legionaries) and superior rank and privileges to ordinary "equites." During the "principate," "equites" filled the senior administrative and military posts of the imperial government. There was a clear division between jobs reserved for senators (the most senior) and those reserved for non-senatorial "equites." But the career structure of both groups was broadly similar: a period of junior administrative posts in Rome or Italy, followed by a period (normally a decade) of military service as a senior army officer, followed by senior administrative or military posts in the provinces. Senators and "equites' formed a tiny elite of under 10,000 members who monopolised political, military and economic power in an empire of about 60 million inhabitants.

During the 3rd century AD, power shifted from the Italian aristocracy to a class of equites who had earned their membership by distinguished military service, often rising from the ranks: career military officers from the provinces (especially the Balkan provinces) who displaced the Italian aristocrats in the top military posts, and under Diocletian (ruled 284–305) from the top civilian positions also. This effectively reduced the Italian aristocracy to an idle, but immensely wealthy, group of landowners.During the 4th century, the status of "equites" was debased to insignificance by excessive grants of the rank. At the same time the ranks of senators were swollen to over 4,000 by the establishment of a second senate in Constantinople and the tripling ofthe membership of both senates. The senatorial order of the 4th century was thus the equivalent of the equestrian order of the "principate."

Regal era (753–509 BC)
According to Roman legend, Rome was founded by its first king, Romulus, in 753 BC. However, archaeological evidence suggests that Rome did not acquire the character of a unified city-state (as opposed to a number of separate hilltop settlements) until ca.625 BC.

Roman tradition relates that the Order of Knights was founded by Romulus, who supposedly established a cavalry regiment of 300 men called the "Celeres" ("Swift Squadron") to act as his personal escort, with each of the three Roman "tribes" (actually voting constituencies) supplying 100 horse. This cavalry regiment was supposedly doubled in size to 600 men by King Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (traditional dates 616–578 BC). That the cavalry was increased to 600 during the regal era is plausible, as in the early republic the cavalry fielded remained 600-strong (two legions with 300 horses each). However, according to Livy, King Servius Tullius (traditional reign-dates 578–535 BC) established a further 12 "centuriae" of "equites," a further tripling of the cavalry.[4] But this is probably anachronistic, as it would have resulted in a contingent of 1,800 horse, incongruously large, compared to the heavy infantry, which was probably only 6,000-strong in the late regal period. Instead, the additional 12 centuriae were probably created at a later stage, perhaps around 400 BC, but these new units were political not military, most likely designed to admit plebeians to the Order of Knights.

Apparently, "equites" were originally provided with a sum of money by the state to purchase a horse for military service and for its fodder. This was known as an "equus publicus."

Mommsen argues that the royal cavalry was drawn exclusively from the ranks of the patricians ("patricii"), the aristocracy of early Rome, which was purely hereditary. Apart from the traditional association of the aristocracy with horsemanship, the evidence for this view is the fact that, during the republic, six "centuriae" (voting constituencies) of "equites" in the "comitia centuriata' (electoral assembly) retained the names of the original six royal cavalry "centuriae." These are very likely the "'centuriae' of patrician nobles" in the "comitia" mentioned by the lexicologist Sextus Pompeius Festus. If this view is correct, it implies that the cavalry was exclusively patrician (and therefore hereditary) in the regal period. (However, Cornell considers the evidence tenuous).

Early republic (509–338 BC)
It is widely accepted that the Roman monarchy was overthrown by a patrician coup, probably provoked by the Tarquin dynasty's populist policies in favor of the plebeian class. Alfoldi suggests that the coup was carried out by the "celeres" themselves. According to the Fraccaro interpretation, when the Roman monarchy was replaced with two annually elected "praetores" (later called "consuls"), the royal army was divided equally between them for campaigning purposes, which, if true, explains why Polybius later said that a legion's cavalry contingent was 300-strong.

The 12 additional "centuriae" ascribed by Livy to Servius Tullius were, in reality, probably formed around 400 BC. In 403 BC, according to Livy, in a crisis during the siege of Veii, the army urgently needed to deploy more cavalry, and "those who possessed equestrian rating but had not yet been assigned public horses" volunteered to pay for their horses out of their own pockets. By way of compensation, pay was introduced for cavalry service, as it had already been for the infantry (in 406 BC).

The persons referred to in this passage were probably members of the 12 new "centuriae" who were entitled to public horses, but temporarily waived that privilege. Mommsen, however, argues that the passage refers to members of the first class of commoners being admitted to cavalry service in 403 BC for the first time as an emergency measure. If so, this group may be the original so-called "equites equo privato," a rank that is attested throughout the history of the republic (in contrast to "equites equo publico"). However, due to a lack of evidence, the origins and definition of "equo privato equites" remain obscure.

It is widely agreed that the 12 new "centuriae" were open to non-patricians. Thus, from this date if not earlier, not all "equites" were patricians. The patricians, as a closed hereditary caste, steadily diminished in numbers over the centuries, as families died out. Around 450 BC, there are some 50 patrician "gentes" (clans) recorded, whereas just 14 remained at the time of Julius Caesar (dictator of Rome 48–44 BC), whose own Iulii clan was patrician.

In contrast, the ranks of "equites," although also hereditary (in the male line), were open to new entrants who met the property requirement and who satisfied the Roman censors that they were suitable for membership. As a consequence, patricians rapidly became only a small minority of the equestrian order. However, patricians retained political influence greatly out of proportion with their numbers. Until 172 BC, one of the two consuls elected each year had to be a patrician.

In addition, patricians may have retained their original six "centuriae," which gave them a third of the total voting-power of the equites, even though they constituted only a tiny minority of the order by 200 BC. Patricians also enjoyed official precedence, such as the right to speak first in senatorial debates, which were ..