Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-01-18
THE CHARIOT OF OLD

THE CHARIOT OF OLD
A GRIM REMINDER OF THE CoMBATS
OF THE HEROIC PERIOD.
This Vehicle Was Used In the Days
of Antiquity For the Battle, the
Chase, In ProcessIons and In
Games--How II Was Constructed.
The chariot was used in antiquity
for the battle, the chase, in public pro-
eessions and III games. 1t had two
wheels and was drawn by two horses,
and when one or two horses were add
ed they We're attached to each side of
the main pair by u side trace, fastened
to the front of the chariot
These chariots have only come down
to US In fragments, with the exception
of the one in the archaeological muse
um of Florence. which is a unique ex
ample OF a war chariot. the so called
"Biga di Frassno." found by Rosseli-
neo in Thebes tomb. 1t is certainly
as old as the fourteenth century b. G.
1t is probably trophy obtained in the
north by some Egyptian warrior.
There is an entire absence of metal
in the construction. Immediately on
the axle. without springs of any kind,
rests the basket or body. of the chari-
OF, which consisted of floor to stand
on and a semicircular guard around
the front and about half the height of
the driver. 1t is entirely open at the
back, so that the combatants might
leap to the ground and up again, as be-
came necessary by the exigencies of
action. There was no seat, and gener-
ally in war chariots there was only
room for the combatant and his chart
oteer to stand in.
The pole, as in the present instance,
was usually attached to the middle of
the axle, although to outward appear
ances it looked as though it sprang
from the front of the basket At the
end of the pole was the yoke, which
looked like rams horns. Depending
from this by leather thongs was Y
shaped piece. which probably took
the place of the modern horse collar.
Probably broad bands were also fitted
around the chest of the animals.
Besides the harness of each horse
there were a bride and pair of reins
somewhat In the same style as are in
the present day. These were made
of leather and were ornamented with
studs of ivory and metal The reins
were passed through rings attached
to the collar and were long enough to
be tied around the waist of the chariot
eer in case of his having to defend him
self.
The wheels and body were usually of
wood. strengthened in places with
bronze or iron The wheels had from
four to eight spokes. and the tires
were Of bronze or iron dn the present
instance ash was used). and the pins
which secured the fellies were Of fossil
bone.
This description applied to ths}chari-
OTIS of almost any of the nations of an
tiquity, the difference consisting chief
iy in the mountings. Thus the chariots
Of the Egyptians and Assyrians, with
whom the bow was the principal arm
of attack, were richly mounted with
quivers full of arrows, while those of
the Greeks. who used the spear. were
plain except as regards mere decora-
tions. The Persians and the ancient
Britons used class of chariots having
the wheels mounted with sharp. sickle
shaped blades. which cut to pieces
whatever came in their way. This was
probably the invention of the Persians.
The use of the battle chariot really
belongs to the heroic period. The war
rior, standing by the side of his chariot
eer, was driven in front of the line to
invite hostile warriors to single com
bat. After the strategic skill of a COM
mander superseded the demands on
his personal yalor the chariot was
transferred from the battlefield to the
hippodrome, where alone its original
form was preserved The description
of the Homeric battle chariot. there
fore, to q great extent also applies to
the historic chariot of the race course.
The small diameter of the chariot
wheel may be explained from the de-
sire of preventing the chariot from be-
ing opposed by the impediments in the
battlefield. such as debris or dead bod
les. The rim was usually formed of
four fellies. into which the four spokes
were let. The upper rail- which was of
either wood or metal. varied greatly in
form and was intended to be grasped
by the warrior on jumping on to the
chariot, while the front part served for
fastening the reins and the traces of
the wheel horses" IN the Roman tri-
umphal chariot a covering of leather
served to ward off missiles. and later
on the sides were composed of strong
boards.
Unfortunately we know very little OF
the vehicles of everyday use in those
days. They nearly all seem to be va
riety of what we now term the gig
Scientific American