Master of the Horse

The Master of the Horse was (and in some cases, is) a historical position of varying importance in several European nations.

The Roman Master of the Horse (Magister Equitum)

The original Master of the Horse (Magister Equitum¹) in the Roman Republic was an office appointed and dismissed by the Roman Dictator, and ceasing to exist once the Dictator left office. The Magister Equitum served as the Dicator?s most senior official. The nomination of the Magister Equitum was left to the choice of the Dictator, unless a senatus consultum specified, as was sometimes the case, the name of the person who was to be appointed. The Dictator could not be without a Magister Equitum to assist him, and, consequently, if the first Magister Equitum either died or was dismissed during the six months of the dictatorship, another had to be nominated in his stead. The Magister Equitum was granted Praetorian imperium, thus was subject to the imperium of the Dictator, but in the Dictator?s absence, he became his representative, and exercised the same powers as the Dictator. The imperium of the Magister Equitum was not regarded as superior to that of a Consul, but rather a par with a Praetor. It was usually considered necessary that the person who was to be nominated Magister Equitum should previously have been Praetor, but this was not regularly followed. Accordingly, the Magister Equitum had the insignia of a praetor: the toga praetexta and an escort of six lictors . The most famous Master of the Horse was probably Mark Antony, who served during Julius Caesar's first dictatorship.

Related Topics:
¹ - Roman Republic - Roman Dictator - Praetor - Toga praetexta - Mark Antony - Julius Caesar

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The title Constable, from the Latin comes stabulari or count of the stables has a similar history.

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Master of the Cavalry

The Magister Equitum was originally, as his name implies, the commander of the cavalry, while the Dictator was at the head of the legions: the infantry. The name came from the original duties from the earliest days of the Republic (caring for the Dictator's stables), as well as the fact that the Dictator's official title was Magister Populi² (Master of the People). But Magister Equitum is often mistranslated to mean Master of the Horse, when the more correct translation is Master of the Cavalry. In Latin, the word for horse is equus while cavalry is equites. Equitum is the genitive case of the word equites, meaning of the Cavalry, not of the Horse.

Related Topics:
² - Latin - Genitive

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