CHAPTER IV 



Virgil on the points of a horse Caesar's invasion Abolition of 

 war chariots Precursor of the horseshoe Nero's 2000 mules 

 shod with silver ; Poppaea's shod with gold The Ossianic and 

 Cuchulainn epic cycles ; Cuchulainn's horses The Iceni on New- 

 market Heath ; early horse racing in Britain Horses immolated 

 by the Romans ; white horses as prognosticators Caligula's 

 horse, Incitatus ; Celer, the horse of Verus ; the horse of 

 Belisarius 



TTIRGIL, whose famous " Georgics " was pub- 

 lished about the year 29 B.C., incidentally 

 shows how close the connection was that in his 

 time existed between men and their horses 

 that is, in so far as the former would probably have 

 gained comparatively few victories and made but 

 little headway in civilisation had they not been 

 materially helped by "man's friend and ally, 

 the horse." 



According to Virgil, in the years just before 

 Christ the colour least liked in horses intended 

 for work was white. " Yellow " also was objected 

 to, the prevalent belief being that white or dun 

 horses must ipso facto be of weak constitution. 

 White markings were not disliked, however, and 

 we read that Virgil's Roman youth rode "a 

 Thracian steed of two colours," it had a white fore 

 foot and a forehead with a white patch. The 

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