Equestrian Order

the order of knights in ancient Rome. The equites or knights originally formed the cavalry of the army. ‘They are said by Livy to have been instituted by Romulus, who selected 300 of them from the three principal tribes. About the time of the Gracchi (1238 B. oc.) the equites became a distinct order in the State, and the judges and the farmers of the revenue were selected from their ranks. They held their position in virtue of a certain property qualification, and toward the end of the republic they po e ed much influence in the State. They had particular seats a igned to them in the circus and theater, and the insignia of their rank, in addition to a horse, were a gold ring and a robe with a narrow purple border. Under the later emperors the order disappeared from the stage pf political life.