equestrian order

equestrian order (Lat. equēs, ‘knight’, pl. equitēs), an important social class of Roman citizens, originally enrolled, according to tradition, by the kings of Rome to form the cavalry section of the army. They had to be wealthy as well as physically and morally worthy, and the term ‘equestrian order’ thus came to denote a wealthy social class. In the second century BC the original raison d'être of the equites gradually disappeared when the cavalry contingents, if needed at all, were raised outside Italy. From this time on the military function of the equites changed to service as staff officers. By the end of the republic the term equites denoted all well-to-do citizens who did not belong to the senatorial class and they were capable of exerting considerable political force. Under the empire the order lost its political significance, but individual equites continued to be of importance in the civilian and military administration. In the 4th century AD the wide diffusion of honours among officials blurred the distinctions of class, and the equestrian order ceased to be a recognizable element in the state.