Expert: Maria - 10/12/2007

Question
Hello,
Could you tell me please  whether the Romans horsemen used stirrups?
Thanks a lot.
Nancy

Answer
Hi Nancy,

The Roman horsemen, as well as the Greeks, did not know stirrups, as we can see in  some low-reliefs like for example the Parthenon frieze by Phidias, now on view in the British Museum, London [the so-called Elgin Marbles].

In fact, stirrups probably originated in the Asian steppes about the 2nd century BC and were used in Europe in the 6th.-7th. Century AD, after the Fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD.

Therefore the Roman "equites"(cavalry troops) had a shield and a lance, that usually consisted of a long wooden shaft with a sharp metal point, but they had neither stirrups nor spurs.
The spur also, in fact, reached western Europe in the 8th. century and  was combined with the  use of the lance and armour to produce a new type of warfare, the shock combat of  the mounted knight, in which stirrups helped the rider keep his seat at the moment of impact. Modern stirrups  differ little from those of the European Middle Ages.  
                
Have a nice day.
Maria