Alares, in antiquity, are supposed by some authors to have been a kind of militia or soldiery among the Romans, so called from ala, a wing, because of their lightness and swiftness in combat.[1]
Others make them a people of Pannonia. Yet others, with more probability, take Alares for an adjective or epithet, and apply it to the Roman cavalry, because they were placed in the two wings, or alæ of the army.[1]
References
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Alares". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. p. 56.