![]() On the march, the extraordinarii had the dangerous privilege of leading the army, though they could also be used as a rearguard if the army was threatened from that direction. The members of the extraordinarii were picked by the prefects based on who had the best character and the best experience. Like the rest of the alae, the extraordinarii are divided into Maniples, turmae and later, cohorts. The extraordinarii for a standard consular army as described by Polybius would thus number 600 cavalry and 1,680 infantry. In practice, there was often more allied infantry than Roman infantry for instance, the four legions (numbering 15,000 Roman infantry) were supported by 20,000 allied infantry at the Battle of the Trebia.įrom the whole force of the alae, the Consul would request the praefecti sociorum (commanders of the allied forces) to select for the extraordinarii about a third of the cavalry (the equites extraordinarii) and a fifth of the infantry (the pedites extraordinarii) of those men best fitted for service. In theory, the alae would be the same size as the legions, except for the cavalry, which was tripled so, a standard ala would contain about 900 cavalry and 4,200 foot. The standard Consular army of the Republic was made up of two legions and a comparable number of Italian allied troops, termed the alae. ![]() They were created after the Latin War and were dissolved after the Marian reforms.Īlmost all the details we know of the extraordinarii are described to us in The Histories of the ancient Greek historian Polybius. The extraordinarii also served as bodyguards of the general. ![]() Other times they were rearguard, scouts, and pickets. The name refers to their nature i.e., extraordinary or chosen men. The extraordinarii were the elite troops of the Roman alae, recruited from the socii, Rome's Italian military allies.
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