60 THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



people of Hyrcania because they had sense enough 

 to return the stolen horse instead of waiting with 

 their kith and kin to be slain or tortured ! 



In the descriptions of almost all the great 

 victories won by Alexander the Great, allusion 

 is made to his favourite steed. We are told by 

 Gellius that in the battle that practically witnessed 

 the death of Bucephalus the king had pressed 

 forward recklessly into the thick of the fight, and 

 apparently right into the enemy's lines, and had 

 thus become " the mark for every spear " — a state- 

 ment which, if literally true, points to an enemy 

 made up of singularly inept marksmen. 



" More than one spear," he goes on, " was 

 buried in the neck and flanks of the horse, but, 

 though at the point of death, and almost drained 

 of blood, he succeeded with a bold dash in carry- 

 ing the king from the very midst of the foe, and 

 then fell, breathing his last tranquilly now that he 

 knew his master was safe, and as comforted by 

 the knowledge as if he had had the feelings of a 

 human being." 



There is something about the concluding 

 sentence that leads to the belief that Gellius must 

 have been either remarkably imaginative, or else 

 of a more romantic nature than the majority of 

 his contemporaries have given him credit for be- 

 ing. The last line in particular is very precious. 

 After reading it can one feel astonished at 

 Alexander's enthusiasm having carried him to 



