Bronze horse muzzle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The cavalry was a minor part of the Roman army, whose main strength lay in the heavy infantry—the legions and their auxiliary cohorts. Some horsemen were attached to each legion, however, and there were special units, called alae, recruited from among barbarian nations that excelled in riding. The emperor and senior officers, too, had mounted escorts.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art