What Was Life Really Like For A Roman Cavalryman? | Digging for Britain

Join Dr. Alice Roberts on an archaeological journey as experts unravel the mysteries surrounding the Roman Cavalry soldiers. Often overshadowed by Legionaries, these elite warriors have long been neglected in history. Delve into Hadrian's Wall, Vindolanda, Hexham Abbey, and beyond as we piece together clues about their daily lives and pivotal role in the empire. From excavations to historical reenactments, discover how these soldiers trained, fought and lived.
00:00 Intro
02:30 Hadrian’s Wall
12:40 Roman Cavalry Horses
20:45 Ribchester Roman Fort
24:40 Hexham Abbey
28:45 Cavalry Armor
33:00 Reenactment Training
35:50 Vindolanda
42:30 Roman Remains
45:20 Battle Formation
48:45 Chesters Roman Fort
51:20 Roman Cavalry Reenactment
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[@Luke1959]

I love the way Prof Alice Roberts brings this history to life with her narration! Thank my dear, you are a gem!! Keep up the great work!!🙏

[@Patrick-fr6zq]

mmmm

[@brettcurtis5710]

Sadly NZ's state television is slowly being gutted and TV is full of crap cooking and buy-a-house shows and never-ending Reality TV garbage - if only we could have some programs like this - Thank Goodness for KZbin and Prof Alice Roberts and her team! And also the other Brit historians and academics, Dan Jones, Dan Snow, Mary Beard, Lucy Worsley and Eleanor Janega and the fabulous Bettany Hughes!

[@virginiajayhudgins8277]

It's the same in the US. I share your frustration and hunger for something worth watching.

[@Dark-Star63A]

Totally mate... They'd prefer to keep garbage like Shortland Street, The Great British Bake Off, Love At First Sight and never-ending repeats of Two And A Half Men, and all that other mind rotting shit... Probably adding to the reason why our kids are killing each other at train stations and bus stops... To much time staring aimlessly at Tik-Toks and brain numbing "stimulation".

[@gerbrand8132]

I completely agree with you.Saturday evening 5/25/2024 watching an episode of Digging for Britain.👍

[@gerryhouska2859]

Same in Australia.

[@user-su7py8xx3u]

That’s why 80% of content I watch is here from political to historical

[@TravisBrady-wn8fr]

Took me away from the grind of life for a bit. Great show.

[@frankfischer1281]

Only the Brits could have pulled-off a spectacle of a Roman Cavalry Troop come to life. Finding a Troops'-worth of ordinary people interested in Roman history enough to put the effort, and the time and money, to re-create such a thing is a very British thing. Kudos to them all.

[@hughbean6785]

Thanks Alice once again you Narrated beautifully bringing History to life ❤

[@IanSinclair77]

How am I only discovering this channel today? I thank the algorithm gods and pray they do better in the future.

[@junestanich7888]

Awesome production and kudos to Mr. Griffith for organizing this incredible production. Experimental archaeology made fun, educational and super interesting even to the children. How wonderful! Encampments, displays, even authentic cooking, Would love to come see this.

[@margomoore4527]

It keeps the horses AND the men warm-they share their body warmth-in lieu of central heating. Each man was motivated to keep his horse immaculate, since they had to share digs. I think it’s brilliant! Too bad Dr. Alice has no experience with riding. Ppl who do, love the smell of horse. Not the smell of horse droppings! So QED, the men were MOTIVATED to police up their shared quarters frequently! Ponies also live longer.

[@mickvonbornemann3824]

Well normally cavalry will have remounts, anywhere between 3 & 9 for each trooper. For example Mongols often had 9, but in most of history it would be around 3 for each front line cavalryman. Hadrian would not have have just 1 Finbar, he would’ve had like half a dozen or more, all trained to respond to the same name, ie about 8 Finbars, all with similar appearances. No cavalry man would charge into a fight with the same horse he had been riding on for hours unless circumstances meant there was no choice.

[@Kradlum]

That's really interesting about the cavalry men living with their horses! Gives me a great idea for my RPG garrison town.

[@ducomaritiem7160]

Nice, this was a good watch. I know Alan Larsson, worked with him many years ago when I was a member of a Dutch Napoleonic cavalry group ( 14th cuirasier, NCV Dutch cavalry association) I felt the horse right under me, like being in the saddle again, when watching.😊

[@blaircalvin5025]

The most interesting units were the Sarmatian heavy cavalry during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The normal Roman cavalry alae gave them a fast response force to contain quick moving raiding groups. The display of a sports cavalry turma reenactment was superb.

[@jeningle8288]

I was at the re enactment, absolutely spectacular and also thrilling.

[@girlnorthof60]

🤩 I'm so envious.

[@lovelyskull3483]

I’d love to have seen this. Incredible riders. Thank you.

[@greenspiritarts]

Fascinating video!

[@lianefehrle9921]

If I only lived in England and Germany again. These shows tells kids more than what they can see on the internet. There isn’t anything like this in America. Yes there is the fight between the north and south but there is a bit of hate behind those. This video tells a lot about people behind the mask they wore.

[@jfredknobloch]

Here in America, we deny anything that came before, as in the truth sense of the word. We are also not very good at English!

[@jfredknobloch]

I appreciate your sentiment and think it’s quite valuable. Let’s let things survive for another 800 years here in America and see what 🎉people think . Judgment too early is judgment not well served.

[@Starman_67]

That was awesome. 🤘😎🤘

[@mannyromero4511]

I could listen to Professor Roberts read the dictionary. Especially this show. I'm a horse owner, Romanophile, and everything/any cavalry fanatic.

[@robertneven7563]

As a real horseman and horse trainer I like that video 😀 so much

[@ralphgeigner5497]

Excellent video. I think ? the tree at the videos end, the site was used for Kevin Costner's Robinhood, when Robin met for the first time the Sheriffs cousin and the boy was up in the tree.

[@mewsli]

The tree at Sycamore Gap was felled a few months ago. Two men are on trial for its destruction and damage to the wall itself.

[@Luddite1]

Absolutely fascinating fantastic

[@leeradford76]

I like this series thanks

[@alanatolstad4824]

Amazing.

[@richardstever3242]

First time watching. I like this show and I do subscribe. I wish the volume was louder to match other channels.

[@JC-kk5wg]

Excellent presentation and enjoyed the info and activities. I would love to attend the digs and shows. Best presenter of this information Professor Roberts and participants and archeologists. Want much more of this. I think the mention of oppression is more to do with protection of the living community and building a society with less fear of raiding parties and enslavement.

[@girlnorthof60]

HUGE RESPECT for all the men & women re-enactors who apply so much passion, time, money & energy into, what is for many, an unpaid but very serious (& expensive) hobby. The level of realistic accuracy is astonishing, right down to their portrayal of everyday life. Impressive experimental archaeology. Well done, everyone.

[@emmakirton5612]

i do medieval reenacting and yes it can be expensive but its good fun, my hubby is at bamburgh castle this weekend.

[@girlnorthof60]

@@emmakirton5612 I'm so envious of your life. I live in a remote community in the Yukon... far away from the excitement. If I was in the UK I'd join your group & be at Bamburgh Castle this weekend. 🤩

[@emmakirton5612]

If your ever in the UK we would be happy to have you :)

[@Eris123451]

Personally I think that, along with dancing in a silly hat and stick with bells on it should be an arrestble offense and that anyone going, "Hey Nonny No," should be flogged. Seriously what's wrong with these people ?

[@markperrault5678]

Fantastic

[@TonyM540]

I don’t think it would have been seen as an inconvenience to live with the horses. Up until quite recently farm houses were built attached to a cow byre. It would have been considerably warmer sharing accommodation with horses.

[@cetx]

What a cool exercise and display of pragmatic history! I'm not convinced about the wedge formation. It seems impressive, but I have to think that the single rider at the point would be extremely vulnerable (almost definitely a dead man). Then again, maybe that's just good old fashioned bravado.

[@vegas1a]

Digging For Britain - Season 6, Episode 4 The Horsemen of Hadrian's Wall

[@mickvonbornemann3824]

Remember there were no stirups back then, the reenactors better get that right.

[@mickvonbornemann3824]

“They didn’t need them” you mean they had not been invented yet

[@ianbruce6515]

I've always thought that Hadrians Wall was built to retard incoming cavalry raids and would be hugely effective at that. Infantry can close with the wall at night with ladders and be over enmasse in no time. Cavalry would have to build a pretty substantial and sophisticated ramp to get horses over. The wall was sparsely manned over its entire length and could not function like the wall of a castle. With a good signalling system, the Roman cavalry could reach the site of an infantry incursion relatively quickly. Same with China's Great Wall. People criticize it as being so long that it would be impossible to man. But it was to stop the lightning fast raids of the horse nomads.

[@RIPPERTON]

As any modern horseman today would agree, No Stirrups would be a bad idea.

[@derekblythe6143]

I was there as it happened where i live in carlisle.

[@jamesfetherston1190]

After Rome conquered Gaul, Gaulish and other conquered Celtic warriors often became a big part of the Roman cavalry.

[@mango2005]

There wasnt that much "Roman" cavalry although there was a lot of Alae (non Roman citizen) cavalry used by the Romans. Later on Foederati (allied tribes under their own commanders) provided much of the cavalry in 4th-5th centuries. In the 4th century, new types of cavalry like Cavalry Archers (Equites Sagitarii) were introduced, and Persian style Cataphrachts covered in scale armour including the horses sometimes

[@davidlloyd150]

❤

[@ODDwayne1]

Why do the Brits NEVER check your audio levels?

[@Averkie_Skila]

Bro at 29:00 coping with his ancestors being dominated by Romans

[@coyotej4895]

This was great. How long was England part of the Romen Empire? About 400 years according to some sources. During that time How many units from England served the Romen military and where? England played a key role in the Romen empire in many ways that they should be proud of. How many Communities of different peoples came together to make a place that was safer and more conducive to growth of so many other communities. It was NOT the Romen senit that did this because communications where not that good it fell to those on the spot at the time and they did this well. People need to Stop playing the Victim for others political or social agendas and stop trying to erase the past when our ancestors should be Respected not forgotten. I am herring about this Idiotic move by some wanting to tear down parts of the wall is pure ignorant hubris. It changes nothing but huts the future by removing parts of a past you cannot erase. As a Native Alaskan I come from a place of real knowing and more recent understanding of the growing pains of empires. But more painful than their growth was their deaths and the chaos, mass deaths and destruction that fallowed was unimaginable and the source of many of the still existing End of the world myths that still haunt our collective consciousness. Stop repeating the mistakes of the past by fallowing the whims of the elite that want to control the world by making victims that need them to prop them up. Step out from under there BS and make yourself your own hero and thus helping your Family and community to become their own, by telling them Your ancestors heroic past. It takes many to make a community and someday I hope the world can be one community. After all there is only one race on earth, the Humen race and some day we might be one village, collectively proud of a shared identity. But only if we remove those that only exist off division sowing vanity, hate, ignorance and fear to control and manipulate. 20 or so narcissistic and overprivileged elites that hold the rest of the 2.8 billion hostages, IMO. Bless and be well all.

[@thomasbell7033]

The Romans occupied Britain from 43CE-410CE according to pretty much every source.

[@damionkeeling3103]

The population north of Hadrian's Wall declined during the Roman occupation. It must have been sizeable enough to invest in a huge wall that went across the whole country from sea to sea. Romans did that part of Britain no favours at all.

[@stephenwise3635]

Sycamore x

[@robbyakes8736]

WAR IS EVIL

[@lilys4960]

😀

[@JohnYoung-ls6dd]

same crap tv in Canada , zombies watching their cell phones bumping into walls , and crossing streets into live traffic on the phones .

[@robertneven7563]

the biggest military invension was the sturriep my dearest friend

[@Sowhat300]

Riding a horse in Ancient Rome was a nightmare. Why? The hadn’t invented stirrups yet. So they fell off the horses frequently. Stirrups didn’t come into use until around 400 AD. The Huns introduced them probably.

[@mannyromero4511]

Soooo WRONG. Bro, I've worked cattle from horseback, after about an hour, you're dangling your feet out of the stirrups. Watch any episode of Rawhide. These were just working actors, and mucho, mucho times you see them galloping along dangling their feet. AND THOSE WERE JUST ACTORS! Stirrups are only really needed for convenience....if you've got hundreds of hours in the saddle.

[@a.l1249]

They also said in the video that the horses they used back then were significantly smaller than modern horses. I don't have any experience with horses, so I can be wrong, but I imagine that would make the convenience of stirrups for mounting less significant too.

[@Sowhat300]

I stand corrected . I Googled the “Great Stirrup Controversy.” I was quoting Will Durant from his “Story of Civilization.

[@NSYresearch]

Having ridden in a Roman 4 horn saddle the stirrups were not needed. The saddle is very secure when riding.

[@NSYresearch]

​@@Sowhat300well done for owning up to a mistake and researching it yourself.

[@joaosantos-mm4sq]

Romanas falando língua dos barbaros anglos e saxões 😅😅😅🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇩🇪🇩🇰🏹🛡⚔

[@louistracy6964]

The Roman cavalry are forgotten because they had no PR budget.

[@ianbruce6515]

They weren't citizens. Same with the British Empire. 1.5 million Indian troops served in WW1 in all theatres and suffered 120,000 casualties. They are almost invisible in the histories.

[@louistracy6964]

@@ianbruce6515 I meant their PR department fell asleep. Maybe if they'd had a stronger trade union?

[@oim7392]

17:20 to 18:06 is very sloopy presentation, like, in real life (roman horsemans) will care did they hit horseman or horse, so not full power.

[@Cygnet2]

You do know this is a re-enactment don't you? What do you want to see here? Dead horses and seriously injured men? They are acting FFS!

[@BWhit-ni5uc]

Britain such a insignificant part of the empire

[@terrorbirds9835]

Earth such an insignificant part of the universe

[@hugofigueiredo2994]

I think you're wrong.

[@damionkeeling3103]

The largest military presence in the Empire which is why several governors rebelled. Three permanent legions stationed there and around 70 auxiliary units. We don't hear much about the native Britons causing problems but that's a lot of military power for a supposedly pacified region.

[@sgassocsg]

Britain went on to build an empire greater than Rome…proof: You are reading English. Warning, Brittanica will disappear dabbling with Woke ideology. Be warned.

[@Cygnet2]

Your envy is on show 😂

[@Eris123451]

I got as far as reenactors and bailed.

[@Diogenes_43]

“The forgotten Roman cavalry”… maybe you forgot them lady, the rest of us will always remember them.

[@kenfox22]

Can't hear you. Are you in a library. Cant stand it. Changing channels because your too scared to speak loudly

[@colinb9148]

Not into "Re-enactment" - Half show is wasted (unless you enjoy adults dressing up and having pretend battles?!). Do enjoy the lovely Dr/Prof Alice Roberts, always a very high standard of presenting. Please on next show, no Morris dancers or pantomime fillers (which only pleases a very small proportion of your viewers), keep relevant to title "unearthed + history" only, please. To pre-empt contact from all those Peter Pans who play re-enactment, would suggest "grow-up" but ruuude, I am not - Life is short, enjoy what gives you pleasure.

[@damionkeeling3103]

I enjoy exactly that. The gear was very impressive and it gives a real sense of what the Romans looked like instead of the rusted remains and tattered bits of leather that time has allowed us to see.

[@Cygnet2]

Perhaps YOU should produce, direct and star in the show? That way, you'll have nothing to criticise.......Do you realise you're not the only viewer?

[@jaywinters2483]

She's undoubtedly a gorgeous woman that God made. And that white horse at 12:26 is a beautiful horse. Both the goregeous host & the horses both do show the awesome creative power of the LORD God. "Praise the LORD for he hath made us and not we ourseves"..."the earth is the LORD"s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein". Horses have a way of showing the majesty of the LORD God Creator.