Are there no stirrups? I guess those hadn’t been introduced yet?
“Are there no stirrups? I guess those hadn’t been introduced yet?”
No, stirrups were invented by the Step Peoples or the Persians.
The dating is reinforced by the lack of stirrups. Rome's first encounter with the stirrup was the type used by the Sarmatians, who, after their defeat by Rome, were parted out to different parts of the Empire, with the Sarmatian horsemen formed into auxiliaries for service in places like (ta-dah) Britain. There's a sort of eccentric view that the "real King Arthur" was a Sarmatian cavalry commander. Stirrups probably originated all over the place; the earliest representation in ancient art is from India.
Great question that intrigued me so I did a little research
No record on Romans using stirrups—or anyone in the West—for that matter until somewhere around 800AD. Most sources place the invention around 200B.C. in India. Apparently the invention moved slowly out of the subcontinent.
Romans had saddles with large horns on four points of the seat that kinda gripped the rider or he gripped to maintain his seat in the saddle. Probably used mostly for heavy cavalry.
Stirrups are introduced to Europe around 800 AD. This invention led to the concept of heavy cavalry which was unknown in the ancient world.