124 HORSE-BACK RIDING. 



Stadium, for it would have been manifest injustice to 

 subject men and horses to the same test, and, more- 

 over, Pausanias positively asserts that the Hippo- 

 drome was twice the length of the Stadium. 



But let us proceed to consider more in detail the 

 subject of chariot races. 



The Greeks denoted a chariot by the word harma, 

 which is almost the only expression employed by 

 Pausanias. Hence we conclude that solely one spe- 

 cies of chariot was used in these games, and that 

 any difference consisted rather in the animals at- 

 tached to the vehicles, and in the manner of attach- 

 ing them, than in the vehicles themselves. 



The chariots of the Greeks were more or less orna- 

 mented according to the rank and wealth of their 

 owners. Homer relates that Diomedes appeared at 

 the obsequies of Patroclus in a car resplendent with 

 gold and metal ornaments. That of Menelaus was 

 equally superb, and many others rivalled them in the 

 magnificence of their decorations. If in this simple 

 and primitive age, and in time of war, the Greeks 

 already lavished such ornamentation on their chariots, 

 what idea must w^e conceive of those sent to the 

 Olympic games, the solemn and magnificent spec- 

 tacles that every fifth year summ.oned all Greece to 

 the sacred spot of their celebration, and at which 

 kings and princes of world-wide fame, such as Hiero, 

 Gelon, and Philip of Macedon contested the prize. 



