NOTES. 137 



(Xen. Anab. 4, 4, 4). A special attendant for 

 this purpose is said to have accompanied Alexan- 

 der in his batdes (Arrian, Anab. i, 15, 8). xA.t 

 the court of Philip, pages, sons of noblemen, 

 performed this duty for the king (Ibid. 4, 13, i). 

 Slaves, however, seem to have 'Mnade a back;" 

 and the Roman Emperor Valerian, when prisoner 

 to Sapor, was obliged by that haughty prince to 

 mount him in this degrading fashion, and not to 

 offer his hand (Lactantius, " De mortibus perse- 

 cutorum," 5). 



36. (Page 37.) By a very neat touch, Xenophon 

 fancies himself on the horse's back, speaking to 

 him encouragingly. 



37. (Page 38.) Stirrups were unknown till long 

 after the Christian era began. Other methods of 

 mounting are described in the next chapter ; but 

 here we see that horses were sometimes taught to 

 stoop or settle down so as to make it easier for the 

 rider to reach his place. This was done in two 

 ways : (i) by bending the knees, and thus lowering 

 the shoulders; (2) by throwing the fore feet for- 

 ward and the hind feet back, thus lowering the 

 seat, as horses sometimes do naturally when 

 tired. The second is the method here spoken 

 of by Xenophon, who applies to it the word 

 vTro/Sifid^ea-OaL. PoUux (1,213) describes it by 

 saying that in it the horse set his legs apart. 



