From elite military corps to ceremonial ornamentation troops. A critical approach to the Scholae Palatinae
Abstract
During the 3rd and 4th centuries we witness a marked militarization of the socio-administrative framework of the Roman Empire. From the irruption at the institutional level of the military elites to the very morphology of the official buildings, which tried to imitate the distribution of the castra, this situation became a manifest reality. Naturally, in this new military context, the organization of the armed forces was far from the one that had been in force centuries ago. Among the most striking novelties, in view of the study at hand, one in particular stands out: the revaluation of the arms service in the imperial palace. This is where we must place the activity of the scholae palatinae, elite cavalry regiments of 500 men in charge of protecting the emperor and his family.
The trajectory of the scholae is a reflection of the sociopolitical evolution of the Lower Roman Empire, especially in its Eastern half. The development of these contingents reveals a series of problems that suggest a projection that goes far beyond the sphere of war. In this sense, this paper delves into the role played by these horsemen and addresses the reasons that explain their conversion from elite warriors to forces whose scope of action was practically exclusively restricted to ceremonial ornamentation from the 5th century.
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