136 HORSE-BACK RIDING. 



in a degree the bloodthirsty desires of some of her 

 emperors, she estabhshed the Arenas, where for the 

 first time were enacted the tragical games of the gladi- 

 ators. 



This barbarous custom, however, seemed to be a 

 forerunner of the decline of the Roman Empire, 

 which, through the great energy of her early heroes, 

 had reigned supreme during five hundred years, en- 

 lightening the world with the highest order of civil- 

 ization, and giving birth to such illustrious men as 

 Scipio, Cincinnatus, Virgil, Cicero, and Caesar. 



Passing from this era to the next, that of the 

 Middle Ages, we find tournaments first mentioned. 

 They were the grand spectacles of this epoch. The 

 champions, generally young men of the nobility, 

 entered the lists, mounted on steeds, encased in 

 armor, richly caparisoned, and always surrounded by 

 a strong body of men-at-arms. 



Here they challenged each other to break one or 

 more lances. 



The victor of the contest received not only a 

 crown of laurel or oak as a reward for his prowess, 

 but what was, no doubt, more acceptable, the hand 

 of the fairest and wealthiest chatelaine of the as- 

 sembly ; hence the saying that these heroes w^ere 

 ' * crowned by the hands of the Graces. 



Nothing can be more descriptive or thrilling than 

 an account of these tournaments given by Sir Walter 

 Scott, in " Ivanhoe." 



