I recently got interested in Roman history. While reading about different types of gladiators, I stumbled upon a certain quote (it's from wikipedia, regarding Equites) :
"In Roman times horses were no larger than today's ponies and as Romans did not use stirrups fighting on horseback was impractical."
There was no reference backing it up. There are also lots of records about Roman cavalry. Is this statement on Wikipedia incorrect, or am I missing something here?
Thank you in advance for any answers - cheers!
Yes, Roman horses were small- likely never more than 15 hands high, and probably averaging out at about 14.2.
The Romans did not have stirrups, and the effectiveness of fighting from horseback without them is debated. One wouldn't have heavy cavalry charges- cavalry would act more like skirmishers.