Compitum

Caillan Davenport, A history of the Roman equestrian order, Cambridge-New York, 2019.

Éditeur : Cambridge University Press
xxv, 717 p pages
ISBN : 9781107032538
180 $

In the Roman social hierarchy, the equestrian order stood second only to the senatorial aristocracy in status and prestige. Throughout more than a thousand years of Roman history, equestrians played prominent roles in the Roman government, army, and society as cavalrymen, officers, businessmen, tax collectors, jurors, administrators, and writers. This book offers the first comprehensive history of the equestrian order, covering the period from the eighth century BC to the fifth century AD. It examines how Rome's cavalry became the equestrian order during the Republican period, before analysing how imperial rule transformed the role of equestrians in government. Using literary and documentary evidence, the book demonstrates the vital social function which the equestrian order filled in the Roman world, and how this was shaped by the transformation of the Roman state itself.

Introduction: Charting the History of the Equestrian Order

Part I - The Republic
1 - Riding for Rome
2 - Cicero's Equestrian Order
3 - Questions of Status

Part II - The Empire
4 - Pathways to the Principate
5 - An Imperial Order
6 - Cursus and Vita (I): Officers
7 - Cursus and Vita (II): Administrators

Part III - Equestrians on Display
8 - Ceremonies and Consensus
9 - Spectators and Performers
10 - Religion and the Res Publica

Part IV - The Late Empire
11 - Governors and Generals
12 - The Last Equites Romani

Conclusion

Glossary

Bibliography

Source : Cambridge University Press