8o THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



equally fantastic are the tales told of the famous 

 horse that belonged to the Roman emperor, 

 Verus, in the second century a.d. Celer by 

 name, it ate nothing but almonds and raisins, 

 and its stable was a suite of apartments in the 

 emperor's principal palace. In place of horse 

 clothing it wore a garment of royal purple. 



I need hardly repeat that these and similar 

 stories that have been handed down to us must 

 be received with considerable scepticism. 



A description, probably true, of what were 

 deemed in the first century a.d. to be the best 

 points about a horse, is to be found in the 

 " Eclogues." The lines, translated, run some- 

 what as follows : — 



u My beast displays 

 A deep-set back • a head and neck 

 That tossing proudly feel no check 

 From over-bulk ; feet fashioned slight, 

 Thin flanks, and brow of massive height ; 

 While in its narrow horny sheath 

 A well-turned hoof is bound beneath." 



Towards the middle of the fourth century a.d. 

 the popularity of what must be described as circus 

 riding would seem to have increased rather 

 suddenly, and we read that at about this time 

 the Sicilian horses were nearly as much in de- 

 mand for public performances and processions as 

 the Cappadocian and the Spanish. Though such 

 performances must have been primitive indeed by 



