Cataphractarii

Equites cataphractarii, or simply cataphractarii, were the most heavily armoured type of roman cavalry in the Imperial Roman army and Late Roman army. The term derives from a Greek word, κατάφρακτος kataphraktos, meaning "covered over" or "completely covered" (see Cataphract).

Heavily armoured cataphract cavalry, usually armed with a long lance (contus), were adopted by the Roman army to counter Parthian troops of this kind on the eastern frontier and similar Sarmatian cavalry in on the Danubian frontier. In distinction to both Parthian and Sarmatian cataphracts, who represented a wealthy feudal or tribal elite equipped for war, Roman cataphracts had no social dimension, being composed of professional soldiers like any other troop type of the Roman army. The Romans also used the terms contarii for lance-armed cavalry, and clibanarii for heavily armoured cavalry. It is uncertain whether these terms were used interchangeably with 'cataphract', or whether they implied differences of equipment and role.

Modelled on the cataphracts of Parthia, they were armoured from neck-to-toe by a variety of armour types, probably including: scale armour (lorica squamata), mail (lorica hamata) and laminar armour (see manica). A number of descriptions indicate that helmets with visors shaped like human faces were worn. However, a graffito from the Roman frontier fortress of Dura Europos shows a cataphract wearing a conical helmet with a face-covering mail aventail. They were normally armed with a contus, a long lance held in both hands. However, the name of one unit, equites sagitarii clibanarii, implies that these troops carried bows instead of, or in addition to, the contus. As a secondary weapon they were armed with swords (spathae). In some cases, their horses were covered in scale armour also. Two iron and copper-alloy scale horse armours, usually called 'trappers' or 'bards', still attached to fabric backings were discovered in a 3rd-century context at Dura Europos.

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