Oulamotai Hippeis

The worst of all Greek cavalry, Oulamotai are the stock Spartan melee cavalry unit and are inferior in more ways than just one: they are costly, and they too perform poorly in battle - they are clad in almost nothing except a spear and a helmet. Worse, they like their highborn Hippagretai superiors also have an attack penalty versus enemy cavalry, and are also completely useless in the face of enemy anti-cavalry weapons. They are still superior compared to the vintage chariotry employed by some factions such as the Aigyptoi or the Aethiopes, however, so they perform well against factions who are constrained towards fielding them in battle. Otherwise, a Lacedaemonian player is advised to save their resources, or wait until the more effective Tarantinoi Hippeis become available for recruitment.

History
Although the roles of the Spartan military forces may not be any cause for fame, Sparta’s obsession with war made it one of the most influential and feared military forces in the ancient world. The roles of the Spartan army, were to put it simply, to protect the state of Sparta, both from external teats as well as internal threats. The influence of the army was gained through a rigorous education system that raised the Spartans into full-time warriors. Their attitude towards war ensured that the army would remain a force throughout Greece as well as feared within their own backyard through the terrorization of helots.

The Spartan army in its prime was organised units, known as morae ("divisions"), with as many as ten at one time as they represented a tenth of Lacedaemon's native military force. Each mora was then divided into four or five units, known as "Bands" or lochoi but increasing military needs imposed in the 5th century BC. the formation of the sixth Lochos. Cavalry, too was organised in Sparta into studs of fifty, each designated as "Oulamos". The mission of the Spartan cavalry, always limited in numbers, was to cover during the battle the sides of the phalanx, the main battle body.