Mercenary Eques

Recruited from the gentry and lower aristocratic classes of Roman society, the equites were the cavalrymen of the royal and early Republican Roman armies. To be a member of the equestrian class meant that a man was rich enough to keep a horse, and provide his own armour, shield and spear. There were usually some 300 equites in each Republican Legion, organised into ten turmae of thirty horsemen each under the command of three decuriones. One of these men would be the praefectus, or commander, of the squadron. Mostly drawn from the young sons of elite society, these were men keen to show their courage. Showing prowess on the battlefield was an important step towards gaining political office and prestige for their families. Mundane duties such as patrol or reconnaissance would be the work of the equites extraordinarii of the Socii, the Romans’ collected Italian allies. During the Samnite and Punic Wars, the equites’ ranks were opened to first class commoners. Although they received none of the equestrians' social and political powers, they eventually replaced the aristocracy in the ranks of the Roman cavalry, allowing the equestrians to become senior officers in the newer Marian Legions.

Unit Name Mercenary Eques

Main Unit Key inv_syr_mer_eques

Land Unit Key inv_mercenary_eques

Naval Unit Key pel_transport

Soldiers 80

Category Cavalry

Class Melee Cavalry

Custom Battle Cost 600

Recruitment Cost 600

Upkeep Cost 450

Melee Attack 30

Weapon Damage 25

├ Melee Weapon rome_spear_cav

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 5

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 15

├ Bonus vs Elephants 15

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 30

Melee Defence 50

├ Base Defence 10

├ Shield caetra_cavalry

└ Shield Defence 40

Armour 15

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 10

└ Shield Armour 5

Health 75

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_light

├ Man Health 40

├ Bonus Hit Points 10

├ Mount rome_horse_spear_shield_m

├ Mount Entity rome_horse_medium

└ Mount Health 25

Base Morale 45

Abilities

No Ability

Attributes

• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very slow speed
• Weak ramming

• Good attack
• Average defence
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Average morale

Faction Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Faction	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
1	inv_faction_pool_syracuse	Syracuse (Rise of the Republic)	0	0.1	1	3