Introductory 7 



showing that the txvw^ in question was a structure attached to 

 the rider's feet, and not a fly. The fact that Theophrastus 

 singles out the spurs as worthy of mention in his account of 

 this personage seems to imply that they were somewhat of a 

 novelty at that time, since the spurs of that period were very 

 small, and could not have furnished a conspicuous feature in 

 their wearer's equipment. I am inclined, however, to think 

 that the novelty was in the spurs being made of metal, 

 probably bronze, in keeping with the rest of the arms and 

 armour of the time, and possibly having some attempt at ornament ; 

 for I feel certain that spurs of some kind had been in use long 

 before that date. In all probability the original form of spur 

 was merely a sharpened piece of wood, or bone, of which, of 

 course, no traces would remain at the present time. Also some 

 of the novelty may have lain in the fact that such a person 

 as Theophrastus describes wore his spurs upon his heels, and 

 not attached to his stirrups, a custom most prevalent in the 

 East, as I have just previously mentioned, and which was more 

 or less adopted by the Greeks alone amongst the nations of 

 Europe. 



Cicero, Livy, and other Latin writers mention spurs, using 

 the words " calcar " and " ferata calce." But no traces of spurs, 

 as far as I am aware, are to be found on Roman sculptures. 

 Writers all along have been very reticent upon the subject. 

 The earliest painters have, as a rule, shirked the spurs in their 

 representations of battles, etc., or have, in their representations 

 of scenes that have occurred long ago, introduced the spurs of 

 their own period. There are numerous pictures by the old 



