Note 57: — XVI.—HORSES AND CHARIOTS. (Wall-Cases 49-51.)

Horse-trappings.—Case 50 contains two interesting sets of bronze harness of an early date from Italy, probably of the eighth century B.C. (No. 507). They are mounted upon leather, and placed on models of horses' heads; the sidepieces of the bits are themselves in the form of horses. Of much later date, perhaps of the fifth or fourth century B.C., is the Greek bit from Achaea (No. 508; fig. 206). It is remarkable for its severe character, but was certainly not out of the ordinary, for a bit of precisely similar character is described by Xenophon in his treatise on horsemanship (early fourth century B.C.).57 He says there were two varieties of this type of bit, the mild and the severe. In the present example we may probably recognise the severe variety, which had "the 'wheels' heavy and small and the 'hedgehogs' sharp, in order that the horse when he got it into his mouth might be distressed by its roughness and give up resisting." The "wheels" are clearly the central discs for pressing on the tongue, while the prickly cylinders at the sides were aptly termed "hedgehogs" by the Greeks. In this same Case there are also examples of the milder Roman bit, one in iron and another in lead, perhaps intended for votive use.