INFLUENCE UPON HISTORY 103 



of William the Conqueror horses practically the 

 world over " went out of use more and more." 



By "the world over" he means, of course, as 

 much of the world as was known in those days, 

 but the statement is none the less incorrect, and 

 it seems clear that he must have come to this 

 false conclusion through inferring that because 

 in certain regions the designs upon the ancient 

 monuments, and in some instances the figures 

 upon the coinage, represent a horse, or horses 

 and chariots, the monuments and coins of a later 

 date show only an unmounted warrior. 



The true reason of this, however, probably is 

 that the later monuments were erected, and the 

 later coins struck, at a period when neither famous 

 battles were being fought nor great contests of 

 skill decided. Students of history well know, 

 indeed, that the monarchs as well as the great 

 chiefs and leaders in the early centuries before 

 the Conquest, and to some extent in the centuries 

 after it, almost invariably commemorated upon 

 their monuments, coins and parchments such 

 events as happened to be of importance at the 

 moment, or, as we should say to-day, of passing 

 interest only. 



Indeed, as I have endeavoured to show, one of 

 the most noticeable features about the horse in 

 its relation to history is the manner in which 

 it gradually influenced the development of the 

 various nations. The early Libyan horses were 



