THE HOKSES OF ROME 527 



and chariot- racing. For the hitter pastime swift horses from all parts 

 of the world were sought for by men who devoted their time and money 

 to the promotion of this sport. 



The equestrian exercises in the circus, for which the Eomans were so 

 famous, were no doubt introduced from Greece, and the best equine per- 

 formers were imported from foreign sources — from Spain, Sicily, Greece, and 

 in later times from Cappadocia. The horses intended for this sport were 

 not broken in until three years old, and were not raced until the completion 

 of their fifth year; and in consequence of this wise treatment we find that 

 such horses were during several years winners of many races. A horse which 

 was a winner of 100 races was called Ce7itcncmus. In the inscrijjtion of 

 Diodes a horse named Tuscus is mentioned as the winner of 429 races, and 

 others were even more successful. The drivers of chariots were originally 

 of a low class and often slaves ; yet when they won races the slaves received 

 their freedom, and the winners generally were handsomely rewarded. 



Under the Empire, especially after Caligula and Nero had mounted the 

 chariot, the patricians condescended to contend in the arena, and many 

 descriptions of races have been handed down to us which reveal how great 

 was the rivalry between families and factions in order to gain victories at 

 the circus. Horse-racing and chariot-racing in the Eoman circus were con- 

 ducted very much upon the same principles as horse-racing at the present 

 day: advertisements of race-meetings jjlacarded in large letters were 

 exposed in conspicuous places, as the discoveries at Pompeii prove ; cards of 

 the races, on which the names of the starters, riders, and drivers appeared, 

 were sold; fortunes were won and lost; betting en>slaved patrician and 

 plel)eian alike; intrigue and villainy corrupted the jjublic mind, bribes 

 secured a winner, poison put an end to the career of a dangerous favourite, 

 and Caligula is said to have removed by iniquitous means the best drivers 

 of his rivals' horses. This brief description is sufficient to prove how great 

 must have been the incentive to the production of first-class horses, and 

 that such was the case we learn from the fact that Marius had a stud farm 

 where he "bred Moorish horses for the circus". "In 1878, in a village of 

 Oned Atmenia, in Algeria, some elaborate mosaic pavements were found in 

 the villa of the pro-consul of Africa under Honorius, who appears to have 

 been a great breeder of horses for the circus. Perspective views of the 

 training stables are represented on those mosaics, and other pictures show 

 the racers in their stalls clothed from head to foot." — Dictionary oj" Grecian 

 and Roman Antiquities. 



The horses bred on Eoman soil for performing at the circus were of 

 foreign extraction. The native horse had proved himself inferior to the 

 horses of Persia and Greece on the battle-field, and in the arena he had 



