OF HORSEMANSHIP. loi 



They were fo prized, that they were devoted to the 

 fole ufe and pleafure of the emperors, it not being 

 permitted to fell them, unlefs by exprefs licence and 

 allowance. With the Palmatian and Hermogenian 

 horfes, it was ufual to couple Phrygian mares ; and the 

 produce of this mixture, efpecially if derived from the 

 horfes of Argccm, a mountain in Cappadocia, -was 

 thought the titteft and bell for the labours of the 

 Circus, to which they were always pre-eminently de- 

 voted, both at Conftantinople and at Rome. Many 

 conjedlures have been offered concerning the etymo- 

 logy of the names, Palmatian and Hermogenian, fo 

 famous throughout the eaftern empire. Moft of them 

 are futile and ill-grounded. The moft reafonable ac- 

 count feems to be this. 



The Palmatian horfes owe their name to a perfon 

 called Palmatus, or Palmatius, who was rich in a. 

 breed of moft valuable horfes, whofe pofleftions being 

 feized and confifcated, his horfes were appropriated to 

 the emperor, and formed the moft valuable part of 

 the Grex Dominicus, or imperial ftables. 



Palmatius is faid to have refided at Andibilis, a 

 town of Cappadocia, not far from Mount Taurus ; and 

 living in a country productive of fine horfes, by his 

 knowledge and care, he raifed fo generous a breed, 

 that they have at once perpetuated his fame and their 

 own. 



The Hermogenian horfes were reckoned next, if not 

 equal in repute, to the Palmatian race. They wer3 



fo 



