HORSE-BACK RIDING. 127 



'' Beyond that part of the Stadium Avhere the direct- 

 ors of the games sit is the space assigned to the 

 horse-racers ; in front of this is a large field, marked 

 off in the shape of a ship's prow, and in such a man- 

 ner that the back is turned towards the lists. At the 

 spot where the field adjoins the Portico of the 

 Agnaptus it gradually widens on both sides, and at 

 the extremity of the beak, and raised to a great 

 height, is a bronze dolphin, supported on a column 

 of iron. 



'' The field is more than 800 feet in circumference, 

 and along its sides stalls have been built for the ac- 

 commodation of horses and chariots, and these stalls 

 are divided by lot among the combatants. In front 

 of each row of stalls, from one extremity of the field 

 to the other, extends a thick rope which serves as a 

 barrier to keep the horses and chariots in their re- 

 spective places until the proper moment. 



'^Near the centre of the prow-like field stands an 

 altar of unbaked brick, which before each Olympi- 

 ad is carefully washed and whitened, and over it a 

 bronze eagle stretches its widely-expanded wings. 



"By means of machinery this eagle is suddenly 

 elevated and rendered visible to all the spectators, 

 while at the same instant the dolphin at the end of 

 the inclosure is lowered to the earth. 



" At this signal the ropes drop, and immediately the 

 combatants advance from every side and meet around 

 the dolphin. Here they are carefully paired and 



