TARENTUM COIN. 37 



mane as if to soothe him, while another individual, also nude, 

 holds up one of the fore feet, as if to apply a shoe. The atti- 

 tude is very striking, and it would be interesting to discover 

 why such a group should be represented on a coinage. 



It may be observed, however, that there is no instru- 

 ment in the hands of the dismounted figure whereby to 

 fasten on the shoe, if such be his vocation, and that his 

 attitude is not a very convenient one. This is, never- 

 theless, the posture assumed on the continent of Europe, 

 and generally all over the East, by the workman who arms 

 the hoofs, but then there is another person to hold up the 

 limb. In this example he may be only trying on a shoe ; 

 though the figure on the horse's back would not add to 

 the facility with which this operation might otherwise be 

 performed. I may mention that I have seen and heard 

 of troop horses which, though otherwise tractable, would 

 scarcely allow themselves to be shod unless a man were 

 seated on their backs, stroking their ears and necks in the 

 manner show^n on the Greek coin ; and C^sar Fiaschi,' 

 in the fifteenth century, recommends for horses that will 

 not be shod quietly, that ' mots plaisants ' be used, and 

 'faire mettre un cavalier sur le dos.' It has been sug- 

 gested that a stone is being removed from the sole ; but 

 without shoes it is almost, if not quite, impossible that a 

 stone could lodge in the foot. Might he not be fastening 

 on a temporary shoe or sock ? 



Beyond the illustration this affords, we have no evi- 

 dence of shoeing among the Greeks ; and, after all, this 

 may be only an allegorical representation, or a reference 

 to some mythological subject. 



' Marechalerie. 3rd French edit., cap. 29. Paris, i$6^. . 



