Horfes. 1 3 



Thus the extraordinary horfes and horfemen reprefented on Trajan's Column with what 

 feems to be a coat of mail, are covered with fcales made from horfe's hoofs. The mane 

 and the trufied tail of the horfe are even covered with this Angular protection againft the 

 arrows of the enemy. It is not eafy to underftand how fuch could keep on the legs of the 

 horfe while galloping as they are reprefented ; but very likely the artift did not fee by 

 himfelf the barbarian horfemen, and not a little exaggerated the dimensions and the form of 

 the horn cuirafies of men and horfes. 



Another barbarian horfeman (Plate 18) appears on Trajan's Column riding at full gallop 

 on a horfe provided with a fringed cloth (the horfeman's cloak, perhaps), inftead of a faddle, 

 and without ftirrups. The bridle is wanting, as in the Greek monuments, but becaufe the 

 bronze which formed it has been removed. The coftume of the horfeman is very curious, 

 and moll likely that of a Gaul fighting againft the Romans. A loofe garment, with the 

 ileeves tucked up above the elbow, covers the upper part of the body of the rider, and 

 falls a little below the waift ; a pair of narrow breeches reaches to conceal only the upper 

 part of the calf, the lower part of which is bare; the fandals are fattened to the ankle with 

 leather ftraps. Some rudiment of faddle muft be concealed under the loofe fchabraque, 

 unlefs the two ftraps which are round the breaft of the horfe, and pafs under the tail, are 

 intended to fallen the fchabraque itfelf. The few Gallic coins which have come down to 

 us often reprefent horfes, but fo badly defigned that it is difficult to get from them any 

 idea of the true conformation of the Gallic horfe. Some of them, neverthelefs, mow fine 

 fpecimens of the majeftic Armorican horfes, of which the Roman artift has given here but 

 a poor idea. 



The Roman horfe in all his majefty is exhibited (Plate 19) in the ftatue of Marcus 

 Aurelius, the work of an artift of the fecond century. The model which he prefents has 

 been more than once copied by Italian and French fculptors of modern times. 



The Byzantine horfe appears on the column of Theodofius (Plate 20), built in the fifth 

 century. The horfe and rider prefent a fine fpecimen of art before its degradation during 

 the middle ages. But the head is fo peculiarly fmall that it feems out of proportion with 

 the reft of the body. Such a horfe, if true to nature, muft have been very docile, and more 

 fit to be a lady's palfrey than a warrior's charger. It is not very eafy to underftand how 

 the bit remained in the mouth of the horfe, as there are no faftenings of the bridle round the 

 head. 



From the reprefentation of this noble creature we come fuddenly down to the awful 

 caricatures of Norman art, as conveyed to us by the rough defigns of the Bayeux tapeftry, 

 executed in the ninth century, fuch drawings can neither be commended as models of 

 elegance, nor as truthful reprefentations of the horfes and horfemen of William the Con- 

 queror. But we are unwilling to let flip the opportunity of drawing the attention of the 



