34 THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



century B.C. is that of Herodotus, where he 

 describes the procession of Xerxes. The follow- 

 ing order, he tells us, was observed. 



There came first iooo carefully selected horse- 

 men, then iooo carefully selected spearsmen, then 

 ten sacred Nisaean horses "splendidly capari- 

 soned." These horses were called Nisaean, we 

 are incidentally told, because they were especially 

 reared on the plains of Nisaea, in Media, at that 

 period famous for its great horses. 



Next came the sacred car of Zeus, drawn by 

 eight white horses "followed by charioteers on 

 foot holding their bridles, for no mortal was 

 allowed to mount the seat." Xerxes himself 

 brought up the train, usually in a chariot drawn 

 by Nisaean horses, with his charioteer beside 

 him. 



The people of almost every nation of whom 

 we have authentic records would appear to have 

 been addicted in the centuries before Christ to 

 the atrocious practice of sacrificing live horses 

 to their gods. Particulars of the weird rites 

 observed in connection with these sacrifices are 

 for the most part too revolting to be described 

 here, but one practice observed by the Scythians 

 cannot well be passed unnoticed. 



This people inhabited chiefly the treeless 



