Description
Carthaginian citizens were rarely called to military service because their armies were mostly legions of mercenaries and levied troops. Only men from the wealthiest and most powerful families, such as Hannibal Barca and his brothers, got the opportunity to serve. The army was, in many ways, their family’s private army rather than belonging to Carthage. Modelled after Macedon’s revered Companion cavalry, the noble horsemen of Carthage were a drilled and disciplined force that rode the finest African and Spanish horses. In the 3rd century BC they were rightly considered to be amongst some of the finest heavy cavalry in the world.
