A matroid is a combinatorial structure that captures and generalizes the algebraic concept of linear independence under a broader and more abstract framework. Matroids are closely related with many other topics in discrete mathematics, such as graphs, matrices, codes and projective geometries. In this work, we define cyclic matroids as matroids over a ground set of size $n$ whose automorphism group contains an $n$-cycle. We study the properties of such matroids, with special focus on the minimum size of their basis sets. For this, we broadly employ two different approaches: the multiple basis exchange property, and an orbit-stabilizer method, developed by analyzing the action of the cyclic group of order $n$ on the set of bases. We further present some applications of our theory to algebra and geometry, presenting connections to cyclic projective planes, cyclic codes and $k$-normal elements.