Celeres
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The celeres (Latin:
Unlike most soldiers of the period, who served only in times of war, the celeres were a permanent force, attending the king at all times, including times of peace.[2] They are generally regarded as a cavalry unit, for the Roman kings traveled and fought on horseback, and in his absence the celeres were led by the tribunus celerum, or tribune of the celeres, who doubled as the king's lieutenant and head of the royal household, holding a position analogous to that of the magister equitum under the Roman Republic.[11][12] However, Dionysius of Halicarnassus states that the celeres fought mounted only where the ground was favourable, dismounting to fight on foot where the ground was unsuitable for cavalry.[7] Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, established certain religious rites that the commanders of the celeres were required to perform.[13]
The celeres remained the king's bodyguard until the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC. The last tribune of the celeres was
Footnotes
References
- ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae, 2.13.2
- ^ a b c d Livy, i. 15 (Livius, Titus (2017). History of Rome. Half Past history. p. 17.).
- ^ ISBN 978-1-80207-932-6.
- S2CID 162206844.
- ^ Keightley, Thomas (1842). The History of Rome. p. 15.
- ^ Strickland, Jane Margaret (1854). Rome, Regal and Republican: A Family History of Rome. A. Hall. p. 11.
- ^ a b c Dionysius, ii. 13.
- S2CID 154973635.
- ^ Ovid, Fasti, 837–844.
- ^ Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), "Celeres".
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, pp. 260, 407, 408 ("Celeres", "Dictator").
- ^ Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, pp. 993, 1601 ("Magister Equitum", "Tribunus").
- ^ Dionysius, ii. 64.
- ^ Livy, i. 59.
- ^ Livy, i. 8, ii. 20.
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 707 ("Lictor").
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, pp. 947, 948 ("Praetoriani").
Bibliography
- Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia (Roman Antiquities).
- Titus Livius (History of Rome.
- Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid), Fasti.
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, William Smith, ed., Little, Brown, and Company, Boston (1859).
- Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities, Harry Thurston Peck, ed. (Second Edition, 1897).