192 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



it without wetting their knees 1 . Apparently Xerxes thought 

 it desirable to propitiate the rivers which he crossed by volun- 

 tarily sacrificing white horses to them. Thus on his march 

 through Thrace the magi sacrificed white horses into the 

 Strymon 2 . 



The muster-roll of the army with which Xerxes invaded 

 Europe (480 B.C.) furnishes an invaluable account of all the 

 horse-breeding peoples who were subject to the great king. 

 The following were the nations which furnished cavalry : the 

 Persians ; the nomad tribes known as Sagartians, a people 

 half-Persian, half-Pactyan, who supplied eight thousand horses. 

 These men fought with the lasso ; the Medes, the Scythians, 

 the Indians, some on horseback, some in chariots, which were 

 drawn either by horses or wild asses ; the Bactrians and 

 Caspians ; the Libyans all riding in chariots ; the Caspeirians 

 and Paricanians 3 . 



We have no difficulty in ascertaining which of the peoples 

 of Asia at that period had the best horses, for Herodotus has 

 already shown us that the Nisaean enjoyed this position, and 

 he elsewhere 4 not only states that they were larger than the 

 Indian horses, but also implies that they were the largest then 

 known. The signet of Darius Hystaspes, the father of Xerxes, 

 which I here reproduce, probably gives us a representation 

 of two typical horses of this famous breed. The signet (which 

 is now in the British Museum) exhibits Darius seated in a 

 chariot drawn by two horses (Fig. 61). 



But there is no evidence that this was an indigenous breed, 

 for Strabo 5 tells us "that the Nisaean horses, which are the 

 largest and best and are used by the Persian kings, come, 

 according to some from Media, according to others from 

 Armenia." According to Strabo Armenia was especially suited 

 for horse-rearing. That part of Armenia through which pass 

 those who journey from Persia and Babylon to the Caspian 

 Gates was called the Horse-feeding Mead. In the time of the 

 Persian kings, the royal herds, which numbered as many as 

 50,000 mares, were pastured there. In another passage Strabo 6 



1 Herod, i. 189. 2 Ibid. vn. 114. 3 Ibid. vn. 84-7. 



4 Ibid. in. 106. 5 524. 6 529. 



