2 i6 RIDING 



was soon increased to three hundred, and shortly after Athens 

 supported twelve hundred heavy cavalry and an equal number 

 of mounted archers. The horse of the heavy cavalry wore 

 armour. 



Horsemanship was held in high esteem among the Greeks, 

 and to surpass in the exercise was considered praiseworthy and 

 honourable. At the four sacred games horse races occupied a 

 distinguished position ; and we are told that, when the gods 

 were competitors at the first Pythian solemnity, Pollux gained 

 the prize in riding, for, on those short courses with their many 

 turns, skill and address upon the part of the rider, rather than 

 the fleetness of the steeds, gave the victory. These races were 

 contested by riders mounted upon single horses, or by those 

 who riding one horse led another to spring upon as the goal 

 was reached. Chariot races were introduced in the XXV. 

 Olympiad, and horse races, according to Guhl and Koner, in 

 the XXXIII. Olympiad. Cicero 1 says, referring to a victor in 

 boxing, that in his day the prize at the Olympic games was 

 considered ' greater and more glorious than a triumph would be 

 held at Rome.' 



Not only was the successful aspirant for honours in the 

 sacred games held worthy of the highest commendations, but 

 he gave glory to his family and even to the city of his birth by 

 his exploits. 



As we have said, the credit of victory in the races at the 

 sacred festivals was given to the rider for his tact and judg- 

 ment, and the superiority of the animal he rode was not neces- 

 sarily established : and although these exhibitions undoubtedly 

 influenced the selection and the breeding of horses, for in many 

 cases the better strains were mentioned, their first effect was to 

 cultivate the courage and expertness of the horseman. 



The Athenians elevated horsemanship to an art. Xenophon 

 wrote a work upon the subject, founded on the treatise of Simo. 

 Nothing further than this is known of the latter, but we have 

 that of Xenophon, and when we consider it in connection with 



1 Orat. pro Flacco, xiii. 



