mercoledì 5 ottobre 2011

Julian's Roman Illyrian Cavalry

As I said in my previous article, after horse archers and cataphractaroi I've moved to the medium cavalry of the army of Julian.
I've used MiniArt models, which I consider far better than the Hat models, even if the sculpting is not so deep; however, in terms of anatomy and historical research the MiniArts are first class.
Unfortunately the mould was not so good, so I had to peel off a lot of excess plastic form the models. 
It seems that the most distinctive units of this kind were the so called "equites illyriciani", kind of troops raised in Dalmatia.
They probably were medium cavalry in the right meaning of this term: they were able to perform both fire at distance and shock tactics.
The "Notitia Dignitatum" lists at least two units which probably match with this kind of cavalry: the "Octavo Dalmatae" and the "Dalmatae Passerentiaci", both of them stationed in Gaul.


For this reason I have decided to represent the shield of these two units, to which I added the shields of a third unit, also stationed in Gaul: the "Honoriani Seniores".
I hope you'll like my pictures!
 





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