THE ROMAN HORSE. 15 



of the advantage of this form, but he did not know the principles on which it 

 was founded. 



" The sides, being deep and swelling towards the belly, make a horse in 

 general more commodious to be seated on, and better able to digest his food. 

 The broader and shorter his loins are, the more readily will he throw his fore 

 feet out ; and the belly that appears small, being large, not only disfigures a 

 horse, but makes him weaker and less able to carry his rider." How beautifully 

 again he seizes the point, although we of the present day smile a little at his 

 illustration ! 



" The haunches should be large and full of flesh, that they may correspond 

 with the sides and the chest ; and when all these are firm, they make a horse 

 lighter for the course and fuller of animation*."" 



Another work of Xenophon, Ufpl 'iwiriiajs, on the management of the 

 horse, exhibits equal proof of a knowledge of the points and proper treatment 

 of this animal, mixed with the same ignorance of the principles on which these 

 things are founded. He was an acute observer, and the facts made their due 

 impression, but no one had yet taught the anatomy and physiology of the horse. 



The Romans, from the very building of their cities, paid much attention to 

 the breeding and management of the horse ; but this was more than 700 years 

 after this animal had been imported into Greece, and his value and importance 

 had begun to be almost universally acknowledged. 



Horse and chariot races were early introduced at Rome. The chariot-races fell 

 gradually into disrepute, but the horse-races were continued to the times of the 

 Caesars, and the young men of the equestrian order were enthusiastically devoted 

 to this exercise. There were not, however, any of the difficulties or dangers 

 that attended the Grecian races. They were chiefly trials of speed, or of 

 dexterity in the performance of certain circles, now properly confined to our 

 theatrical exhibitions. The rider would stand upright on his steed, lie along 

 his back, pick up things from the ground at full speed, and leap from horse to 

 horse in the swiftest gallop. 



A singular circumstance in the management of this animal by the Romans, 

 was the superior value which they attributed to the mare. Their natural 

 historians, agriculturists, and poets, unite in this opinion. Perhaps this might 

 in part arise from the custom of the Romans to castrate all the horses that were 

 employed in mercantile and agricultural pursuits. The horse, however, was 

 not degraded by the operation or the labour, but rather he was made to occupy 

 the situation for which nature designed him ; and from this time, and gradually 

 over every part of Europe, he has become one of the most useful of the servants 

 of man. 



To the Romans may be attributed the invention of the curb-bit. The 

 Emperor Theodosius is represented in one of the ancient sculptures as using a 

 bit with a tremendously long lever, and which could inflict dreadful punishment 

 if the rider were so inclined. 



It may readily be supposed that a knowledge of the horse now became more 

 perfect and more diffused. Terentius Varro, who flourished about the year 

 seventy before Christ, and during the existence of the commonwealth, has 

 given a description of the horse, which has scarcely been excelled in modern 

 times. " We may prognosticate great things of a colt," says he, " if when 

 running in the pastures he is ambitious to get before his companions, and if, in 

 coming to a river, he strives to be the first to plunge into it. His head should 

 be small, his limbs clean and compact, his eyes bright and sparkling, his nostrils 



, or Duties of the Master of the Horse in the Army, chap. i. 



