Question

some soldiers in the early Roman army rode to the battlefield, dismounted, and then fought on foot. Did the later Roman army ever develop a cavalry?

Answer 1

Not all of these questions have simple answers. but mostly yes. if you need details read on

A typical day's march for a legionary would be 20 miles (roman miles 1620 yards, slightly shorter than an English mile). They could march for 8, 10 or 12 hours to cover this distance. At the end of each days march they would entrench, or sometimes build a temporary camp.

The later Roman army had cavalry, but these were usually recruited from auxiliary troops ( who came from areas under Roman control but not yet accepted to full roman citizenship). If an auxiliary survived his full 25 year term of service (often shortened to 20 years) he got full Roman citizenship, a grand of land to farm on(usually), and a small pension (quite often) to retire on.

Roman camps were nearly always square (ish).

Roman warships had oars and sails (oars for fighting and manoeuvre, sails for long haul traveling).

onager :: a large military catapault;

ballista :: a giant crossbow;

testudo :: tortoise defensive formation, a group of soldiers forms a wall of shields so they can move while protected;

galea :: an armoured headpiece;

balteus :: reinforced and studded sword-belt;

phalanx :: a greek infantry formation, something like the testudo but with only the front shield wall and javelins projected aggressively;

hoplite:: greek heavy armoured infantry, mainly used in phalanxes;

maniple :: a group of around 120 men all similarly armed and drilling and fighting as a single unit;

aquilifer :: the soldier who carries the Eagle (the rallying point for the maniple, or sometimes the whole legion);

a battering ram is a large stave intended to bash in a city's gates;

trireme :: fighting ship with three banks of oars;

auxiliary :: soldier recruited from a Roman province who does not yet have full citizenship; auxiliaries usually did special forces operations (cavalry, slingers, sappers), and got full citizenship if they completed 25 years' service;

legionary (not legionnaire): basic Roman infantry soldier, javelin and short sword fighter, heavy-medium armoured;

centurion :: soldier in charge of a group of 80-100 legionaries;

praetorian guard :: the special unit deputed to protect the emperor in Rome (or occasionally in other places);

decimation :: if a legion was being punished, every tenth soldier would be flogged (they were chosen by lot), or in extreme cases crucified;

legatus : the political officer who was theoretically in charge of a legion (usually they left the military decisions mainly to the centurions, but some legates were brilliant generals - Julius Caesar was one);

praefectus :: military officer in charge of a Roman province or a full legion;

mercenary :: foreign soldier, fighting for pay;

a catapault is a catapault.