BOOK VIII. Lxv. 159-162 



questionably show that they understand the shouts 

 of encouragement and applause. At the races in 

 the circus forming part of the Secular Games" of 

 Claudius Caesar a charioteer of the Whites named 

 Raven was thrown at the start, and his team took the 

 lead and kept it by getting in the way of their rivals 

 and josthng them aside and doing everything against 

 them that they would have had to do with a most 

 skilful charioteer in control, and as they were 

 ashamed for human science to be beaten by horses, 

 when they had completed the proper course they 

 stopped dead at the chalk hne. A greater portent 

 was when in early days a charioteer was thrown 

 at the plebeian circus races and the horses galloped 

 on to the Capitol and raced round the temple three 

 times just the same as if he still stood at the reins; 

 but the greatest was when a chariot-team reached 

 the same place from Veii with the palm-branch and 

 wreath after Ratumenna who had won at Veii 

 had been thrown : an event which subsequently 

 gave its name to the gate.* The Sarmatians get 

 their horses into training for a long journey by giving 

 them no fodder the day before and only allowing 

 them a small amount of water, and by these means 

 they ride them on a journey of 150 miles"^ without 

 drawing rein. 



Some horses hve fiftv vears, but mares Uve a shorter -^^^ °f 



■ 1 r- 111 hoTses. 



tune ; mares stop growmg when nve years old, the varieties of 

 males a year later. The appearance of the horse "' ' 

 that ought to be most preferred has been very 

 beautifuUy described in the poetry of Virgil,"' but we 

 also have dealt with it in our book on the Use of 

 the JaveUn by Cavalry, and I observe that there is 

 almost universal agreement about it. But a difFerent 



113 



