620 
SKETCH OF THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF 
MULUS OR MULA, A MULE. 
The price of a mule was greater than that of a horse : 
“ Ego faxim miili, pretio qui superare equos, 
Sicut viliores Gallicis cantheriis.” Plaut. 
And sometimes it exceeded the cost of a small house : 
“ Quod pluris mula est, quam doraus, empta tibi.” 
The use of mules in chariots was, for a long time, very com¬ 
mon. The chariots of king Priam and Nausicaa (daughter of 
the royal Alcinous) were drawn by mules. And the royal virgin, 
Medea, orders mules to be yoked to her chariot. Hence we may 
suppose them to have been held in great estimation among the 
ancients ; nor did they fall into disrepute in later times. ‘‘ Nun- 
quam carrucis minus mille fecisse iter traditur, soleis mularum 
argenteis.^^ (Suet.) Mulionem in itinere quondam suspicatus ad 
calceandas mulas desilisse.^’ (Suet.) 
It is to be observed, that the word mula (a she mule), and not 
mulus, which signifies male, is used in both places; the females 
being more frequently used in cliariots than the males. Thus 
we may see represented on various coins, the vehicles of Agrip¬ 
pina, the mother of Gains, and Domitella, the wife of Vespasian, 
and others, drawn by mules. Nostra celate Foppoea conjux 
Neronis Principis delicatiorihus jumentis suis soleas ex auro quo- 
que induere solehatP (Pliny.) Besides the Emperors and their 
consorts, many opulent men and women of distinction kept 
mules for this use. Wives, as we learn from several writers, left 
their husbands little respite until they had procured for them 
beautiful mules and costly saddles; and Tertullian is sure that 
nobody but the devil could have put such vanity into their heads. 
They were used, also, by persons in office when they appeared 
in state. Alexander Severus decreed, mulas senasj mulos 
hinos,^^ to the Roman presidents when they journeyed into ano¬ 
ther province. When intended for chariot use, it was required 
that they should be sleek and handsome, and that the colour of 
all should be the same. Quid ad rem pertinent mulce saginatce 
nnius omnes colorist (Senec.) Mules were employed in the 
public games, especially in chariots. They were also yoked to 
vehicles by the more vulgar. “ Midis quoque celehrantur ludi 
in circo maxirno consuales, quod id genus quadrupedum primum 
putatUY coeptum jungi currui et vehiculo. Mulus velnculo luncc 
adhibehatur, quod tarn sterilis sit, quam mulus: vel quod ut mu- 
us non suo genere, sed equi creetur, sic ea solis, non suo fulgore 
luceatP (Festus.) 
