INTRODUCTION. Ill 



sun while A pp. Tyaneus was at his court. There 

 is here, perhaps, some confusion in ancient authori- 

 ties ; for we find, that from the time of Cyrus to 

 Darius, the Persian kings were drawn by white 

 horses, and that Darius had his stud of that colour, 

 consisting of three hundred and sixty war-horses, 

 drawn annually from a Cilician breed. * This was 

 most likely the breed which supplied the horses of 

 the sun, always of a pure white livery, and particu- 

 larly mentioned for its stately action and arched 

 neck bedecked with a long flowing mane ; or there 

 was a white breed among the real Nisean, of such 

 value as to be reserved for the great, and to be the 

 object of particular mention in presents and on other 

 important occasions. The mare which carried Da- 

 rius, in his flight from the battle-field at Issus, was 

 probably more fleet than showy, but her breed is 

 not mentioned. If the beautiful mosaic battle-pic- 

 ture, lately discovered at Pompeii, may be trusted, 

 the Nisean horses of the royal chariot were certainly 

 elegantly shaped animals ; and it is from them, most 

 likely, that Phidias took the types of the beautiful 

 sculptured horse, of which we still possess the head 

 in the British Museum. 



The Persians, at a later period, derived from the 

 Erythraean Sea a white breed, speckled with black, 

 and so highly valued, that it is still eagerly bought 

 up by grandees for purposes of parade. 



Another breed of antiquity, one of older date as 



* It seems, however, to be noticed by Homer under the 

 name of Dardanian. ^neas had a set, and those of Rhesus, 

 all attest the locality of the white stock. 



