40 THE HOKSi:. 



tliousand eight liundred foot, or a ratio of about one of the 

 former to nine of the hitter. 



So long as the Romans were engaged in Italian wars only — 

 though from the above facts relative to the constitution of the 

 native and Latin contingents, when the nations were acting in 

 unison, it is to be assumed that the Romans were numeri- 

 cally inferior to their adversaries — they aj)pear to have been 

 able to contend with them on equal, if not superior terms, even 

 with this arm, in the field. Plence, we may argue that the 

 horses of the Italians were equally bad with those of the 

 Romans, but that the superior vigor of the Roman man, whe- 

 ther on foot or on horseback, prevailed. 



The moihent they were brought into contact with foreign 

 cavalry, Macedonic and Eplrotic troopers, mounted beyond 

 doubt on Tracian and Thessalian — that is to say, what we should 

 now designate Turkish — hoi'ses, under Pyrrhus, and, yet more 

 distinctly, with Numidian horse, undoubtedly pure Barbs of the 

 desert, under Hannibal, the inferiority of the Italians in every 

 thing pertaining to equestrianism, was demonstrated. 



It seems almost to have been acknowledged ; for we find 

 that Ctesar, during his wonderful career of Gallic victories, had 

 no Roman horse whatever in his service, but relied wholly on 

 the cavalry of the friendly Gaulish tribes for that arm ; and 

 once we find him, when doubtful of the faith of his auxiliaries, 

 reduced to the necessity of mounting the legionary infantry on 

 Gallic horses. 



In his final conflict with Pompey, his horsemen, who were 

 unquestionably Gauls, as indeed were a large share of his le- 

 gions, rode through the high-born Roman horse of his rival, as did 

 the British heavy cavalry at Balaclava through the Russian 

 dragoons, as if they had been lines of pasteboard. 



At the same time, Crassus in Asia was totally defeated and 

 destroyed by the oriental horse of Parthia ; a fate narrowly es- 

 caped a few years afterwards, by that consummate soldier Marc 

 Antony, and escaped only by dint of admirable skill and bra- 

 very ; a fate not escaped by Valerian, or by that great captain, 

 Julian, or by any other Roman Emperor or chief, who attempted 

 to contest the palm of victory with Italian or western cavalry 

 against the innumerable and indomitable clouds of oriental 



