Note 1031 — Chapter XIII · THE SWORD AMONGST THE BARBARIANS (EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE).

Cæsar (iv. 33): ‘Genus hoc est eis essedis pugnæ;’ and he speaks again (v. 15) of essedarii. The scythe-car was known to Assyria, Jewry (the Faldat of Nahum ii. 3), and Persia, where Xenophon and Plutarch attribute to it the highest importance; even the pole ended in a lance. It became a favourite with all Keltic peoples. At Sentinum (b.c. 296) the Gauls almost defeated the Romans by suddenly throwing on a force of one thousand ‘esseda currusque.’ The Tectosages, when engaged with Antiochus Soter in Phrygia (b.c.), ranged in front of their attack 240 scythe-cars, some with two and others with four horses. Antiochus the Great armed his chariots not only with two scythe blades, but also with lances ten cubits long (?), laterally projecting (Livy, xxxvii. 41). The historian also notices the Arab dromedary-riders, ‘archers who carried their swords four cubits (= 6 feet) long, that they might be able to reach the enemy from so great a height.’ When the Gæsatæ crossed the Alps (b.c. 228) they were accompanied by a vast number of war-cars (Polybius, ii. 4, 5 says 20,000 ἁρμαμάξας καὶ συνωρίδας) which did good service at the battle of Telamon. Ossian’s Fingal offers a long description of the war-car and its uses. Many remains of these two-wheeled vehicles have been found in Keltic Europe (Jähns, pp. 394–96).