OF HORSEMANSHIP. Bf 



judge from the ufages of antiquity, thefe military ex- 

 ercifcs and cavalcades were coniidered as a neceffary 

 part of the funeral rites of Chiefs and other illuftrious 

 perfons ; and if a conje(n;ure may be allowed, it feems 

 not too improbable to believe, that the origin of the 

 cuilora prevailing at this day of leading ftate Horfes in 

 the funeral folemnities of eminent military perfons, 

 and others diftinguiflied by birth and rank, proceeds 

 from the practice of the ancients, obferved from the 

 moil diftant ages, Virgil, who defcribes the game of 

 Troy, fays it was performed by the Trojans in honour 

 of Anchifes, whofe death they celebrated with this 

 and other fports *'. In the reign alfo of Theodojius, and 

 his fon Jrcadiiis, that is, towards the end of the fourth 

 century, it was ufual to mix led horfes in funeral 

 proceffions. The fervants or grooms who led them 

 were covered with long cloaks, and the horfes were 

 hid under the trappings which they wore. Our fu- 

 neral ceremonies correfpond with this pradlice. 



Thefe Eguejires Decurjiones, or feats of military equef- 

 trian fkill and aiTtivity, were ufed alfo upon other oc- 



cafions They were practifed in camps, to teach and 



confirm the foldiers in the ufe of arms, and the dif- 

 cipline of war : they were exhibited to the people by 

 feveral of the emperors as fpecT;acles of parade and 



* Vid, Herodian, de Confecrar. Severi Imperat. Appian. de Scyl- 

 te morte. Paufanias Arcadicis. — Stat. Thcb. lib, vi. v. 213. Ibid, 

 lib. V. 221, Virg. lib. v. 545. lb. ii. v. 188. 



4* enter- 



