ROM0149 – Late Imperial Roman cataphracts

Late Imperial Roman Cataphracts: The Knights of Ancient Rome

Among the most spectacular soldiers in the late Roman army were the cataphracts — heavily armored cavalry whose horse and rider were both encased in mail, scale, or lamellar armor, fighting with lance and sword in a manner that presaged the medieval knight by five centuries. Rome had encountered cataphract-style cavalry first among the Sarmatians and Parthians; by the 4th century, they had become an integral part of the Roman military system.

Armored Riders of the Late Empire

The Roman cataphract — cataphractarius or clibanarius in the sources — rode a large, specially bred horse that was itself armored with chamfron (face armor), peytral (chest armor), and flanchard (flank armor). The rider wore a full suit of mail or scale armor, a helmet with face-protecting aventail, and carried a long lance — the contus — that he wielded with both hands, his horse controlled by knee pressure alone.

The cataphract charge was devastating against infantry: a mass of armored horses moving at speed was almost impossible to stop without missile weapons or terrain features. But cataphracts were expensive to equip and maintain, slow to maneuver, and extremely vulnerable when their momentum was halted or when they faced the missile cavalry of the Huns and Avars.

The Emperor Constantine I significantly expanded the cataphract units of the Roman army, and later emperors maintained large forces of these spectacular soldiers. At the Battle of Strasbourg in 357 AD, Julian’s cataphracts — though they broke in their initial charge — were eventually rallied and contributed to the Roman victory. The cataphract tradition would live on in the Byzantine tagmata and ultimately in the armored cavalry of medieval Europe.

The Original Artwork by Giuseppe Rava

This original Roman military art print by Giuseppe Rava — historical illustrator for Osprey Publishing since 2007 — captures the spectacular cataphract in authentic late Roman equipment with the meticulous accuracy that defines every work by the Maestro. Full horse and rider armor, authentic late Roman weapons, the magnificent anachronism of Rome’s armored knights rendered in oil on canvas.

The print is produced as a limited edition, individually numbered and hand-signed by Giuseppe Rava, SRA3 format (45×32 cm / 17.7×12.6 in), on premium fine art paper. Available worldwide with international shipping.