THE HORSE. 19 



points to the fact that the ancient Grecian 



monuments. 



Grecian horse, if small, possessed ele- 

 gance of form and proportion which at 

 this day would be considered mdicative 

 of quality. 



By ancient authors the war steed is 

 constantly mentioned. Tacitus describes 

 the celebrated breed which existed in 

 Argolis, and the surrounding pastures 

 are described by Homer as affording 

 grazing ground for a fine breed of horses. 

 The ancient kingdom of Thessaly was Ancient 



descriptions 



famous for its horses, which from the ^^f^^^^^^ 

 descriptions given, were evidently of 

 large size, as the fiction of the Cen- 

 taurs is allowed to have origmated from 

 them. Diodorus Siculus states that Ma- 

 cedonia in ancient times '' abounded in 



horses above all other countries in 



2 * 



