Greek Riders of War: Cavalrymen of Ancient Greece

Abstract

This thesis is set to examine the ancient Greek cavalryman, with a primary focus on the archaic and classical periods. The goal is to examine cavalrymen as a social group within Greek communities, the social construct made around them. Final conclusions will show that the cavalry’s place within society was complex, differing over time and place, but for the most part a positive one. This is evidenced in their conscious identity creation around cavalry service and their growth into a valued asset in the Greek machine of war. An attempt is first made to create a clear picture of who these cavalrymen were. This can be difficult, especially considering the enormous differences over both time and place. Source material also makes this process problematic. To add to all of this, ancient Greek nomenclature means even deciding upon a pronoun for this unit is a process, rather than a straight-forward decision. Cavalrymen were not simply ‘men on horses’, they needed to fight from the saddle. Yet for some city-states, such as Athens, this will not include the hippotoxotai (mounted archers). Cavalry here was clearly considered a citizen unit of riders, one given special economic grants and processions which fostered a public perception beyond the hippotoxotai. Such difficulties in defining the cavalry across the many Greek poleis abound. Evidence of horsemanship in the geometric and archaic periods is examined and inferences are drawn about cavalry equipment and techniques across the longue durée: it is inferred that the techniques and fighting styles of the classical period have their background in Greek, rather than foreign, roots. Their identity must also be separated from horsemen of the games and festivals. Final conclusions drawn argue the reflection of a positively held social group, one which was Greek made and often held socio-political as well as militaristic importance. Athens, as she often does, offers us the most evidence for discussion. A second chapter will centre itself around understanding the how and why of Athenian cavalrymen, particularly; why Athenian elite chose cavalry service over others and how their position as cavalrymen was viewed by their wider community. Evidence from processions, festivals, grave stele and public relief begins to underline why these men chose cavalry service as one which offered opportunity for public confirmation of wealth and aretê in war. That the Athenians saw the necessity of their cavalry wing is also evident, in impressive public funding unique to their military branch. Particular attention is given to the separation of the katastasis (establishment loan) and insurance policy into two unique fiscal measures afforded to the cavalry. The Periclean Era offers much towards this thesis’ argument. This period reflects an increase not only in cavalry size, funding and use in Athens, but a more important shift in Athenian perception of their cavalry. One which saw not only the necessity, but the benefit, of having a strong citizen cavalry. Conclusively, this chapter will find there is room for a deeper understanding of the Athenian cavalry, one which understands this unit as a positively viewed, socially accepted and militarily important group within the Athenian demos. In a final and much briefer chapter, evidence relating to non-Athenian Greek cavalries is examined. It is argued that there is only a very limited degree to which generalizations can be made on the basis of Athenian evidence. Athens cannot be used as a blue-print for the rest of Greece. Instead, a great range of diversity is afforded. Cities of the north show a natural inclination towards horsemanship and cavalry, creating almost a ‘game-theory’ in which they build upon each other’s cavalry success. Central Attica is varied, yet the Boeotian Confederacy evidences a cavalry hearkening back to the archaic era and strong enough to challenge even cavalries of the north. The Spartan cavalry of the Peloponnese offers unique discussion into the social position of cavalry; even as perhaps the ‘least cavalry inclined’ city of Greece there are conclusions around horsemanship, surviving nomenclature and the shaky survival of cavalry to be discussed. Finally, Sicily in the south boasts a cavalry infamous for their destruction of Athenian forces in the fifth century BCE. This cavalry, like those on Greece proper, holds its own history back to the geometric and archaic eras. A brief consideration of a handful of poleis within Greece will come to show that each held their cavalry in different levels of esteem, yet in none do cavalry entirely disappear. Instead, cavalry endures, even if with unique aspects, across time and place, across the centuries.