A Steed or a Packhorse, Equines in the Ancient world

The horse has been a prominent part of human life for several thousand years and played an important role in commerce, recreation and combat, actually until very recently. Today horse power is little more than a means of measure of power, but in ancient, medieval and the early modern period was as much a part of life as the auto parked in one's driveway today. Let's take a look at the horse as part of the ancient world of Greece and Rome.

Horses were not the first domestic animal to be harnessed for transportation in the Ancient world. The wild ass, the onager, was the first equine to be harnessed to a wheeled vehicle, first heavy carts by Sumerians and later by Babylonians in lighter chariots. By the New Kingdom of Egypt period the true horse had replaced onagers on chariots and the Assyrians had begun to mount troops on horses. By circa 8oo BC, the time of Homer, the Greeks were familiar with horses as part of their armies, for officers, anyway, and by 500 BC the horse was part of the armies of most of the Ancient World from Central Europe to the Middle East to North Africa, pulling chariots or carrying troops specially trained to fight from horseback. When the Ancient Greeks first encountered the Persians in the Sixth Century, they encountered an army with both horse drawn chariots, but now, mostly mounted troops, cavalry. The Greeks of the city states did not much employ mounted troops at this time, not because they did not value them (their possession made their owners important nobles) but because much of Greece was not suitable for large scale use of mounted troops and also horses were expensive to feed in a region with few large tracts of grassland and a blisteringly dry summer. In the most northern reaches of the Greek world such as Macedonia and Thessaly, the climate and terrain made horses more common and Philip II (whose name actually means a lover of horses) made a mounted cavalry an integral part of his army, along with his phalanx. His son, Alexander the Great, normally rode at the head of his companion horseman in battle. From this time on, Hellenistic armies usually had a large number of mounted troops in their armies.

The situation in early Rome was initially much the same. Ownership of a war horse made a man an important member of the community (the Equestrian class ) but again, owning horses was an expensive proposition and, as in the Greek world, oxen were preferred to horses as farm animals and draft animals. In addition the Romans were quite comfortable with heavy infantry as the backbone of their forces and did not see cavalry as essential to their armies, until their contact with the Carthaginians who did. During the Punic wars the Romans were obliged to hire mercenary cavalry as auxiliaries to their armies. That brings us to the animals that both the Greeks and Romans, once they realized the necessity of cavalry, used for their mounted troops. What do we actually know about these animals?

Not surprisingly, both the Greeks and Romans wrote a fair amount on horses that has survived, probably because their literary use continued and grew greater in later medieval times. One of the best sources for ancient equines is Xenophon, whom readers may recall from his adventures in the Persian Empire. He left us an excellent account of how to raise, obtain and use horses in his, "Art of Horsemanship", and a companion work on, "the Cavalry Commander". The Roman author, Varro, did the same in his De Re Rustica (Country Living) as did Vegetius in his Ars Mulomediciniae (Taking Care of Equines). Even the great Roman poet, Virgil, in his Georgics tells his readers what to look for in a good horse, like large nostrils for greater air intake and mentions Numidian horses as one of the best breeds. Unfortunately, none of them tell us something many modern folks would like to know, that is, what did they look like, especially their size, their height.

Traditionally ancient horses were thought to have been small, almost pony size, mainly because anything much taller would make mounting them difficult. There is no evidence of the stirrup being in existence Classical Times, except possibly among the steppe tribes (Sycthians) so, horses must have been small enough for men to have vaulted on to them, as mounting blocks were not likely to be available on a battlefield. The Romans, however had developed a saddle which had grips at both ends to make mounting easier and perhaps their horses were not that much smaller than ours. Ancient sculptural representation of horses is not much help, even with humans in the image, as artists may have miniaturized the animals to get them into the image. Trajan's column is considered to be pretty accurate as sculpture and, if so, the horses again are not represented as all that small. What we need to know, would like to know, is what was the average height of these animals measured in "hands" from the ground to the withers (top of the shoulders). Traditionally the height of a horse is measured in an ancient method of calculating a distance, the "hand" measuring today four inches (the width of an average adult human hand, including the thumb). Fortunately, ancient skeletal finds from that period have survived, along with finds of metal tack (harness buckles, bits) which both indicate that the ancient horse, at least the ones for cavalry use, seem to have averaged about 12 to 15 hands, the latter a respectable height for modern saddle horses which average some 15-17 hands. If warhorses were also wearing hipposandals or soleae ferrae (ancient horseshoes, tied not nailed to the hoof) they might have been a bit taller. By the way, the smaller horses of closer to the 12 hands height might have been packhorses, the caballus as opposed to the warhorse, the equus. Now, what do ancient coins tell us these animals?

First let me point out something I did not realize until researching this topic. Images of horses are common on Greek coins, Carthaginian as well and on Roman coins of the Republic where they are ubiquitous on the denarius. Surprisingly, they then become uncommon until the Fourth century as they then become abundant again in the Falling Horseman series. I don't think I can recall horses from memory on Byzantine coins at all. If my observation is accurate, I wonder why that might be. Below are some examples from my collection.

I have only put here the side with a horse. The first, upper left is a beautiful standing horse on a Carthaginian, bronze two shekels. That is an impressive animal from a people who obviously valued them. It is Sear 6506, 1979 edition. Second is a Leontini, Sicily tetradrachma showing a chariot drawn by horses. It is sear 825. Third is a small bronze of the city-state of Kyme with a proudly prancing horse. it is Sear, 4192, again 1979 edition. Fourth is a Macedonian tetrobol with another happy, gamboling, animal, perhaps, a foal. It is Sear 1496. Next is a headless horseman on a steed of Tarentum, Sear 374. Then follows a denarius with the requisite biga and, lastly, a double denarius of the Emperor Probus showing his adventus on horseback, a somewhat uncommon image of a horse on a later Roman coin. It is Sear 3340.

I hope you enjoyed this writeup and that you will comment on horses and coins with horses from your background and coins.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

This is my favorite equine medal.

 

That was a great write up and some beautiful coins! Thanks for sharing.

Here is my favorite coin with a horse on it:


Carthage, Zeugitana
ca 300-264 BC
AE 20mm
Obverse: Wreathed head of Tanit left
Reverse: Horse head right, no letter or symbol in right field.

 

Great writeup, here is a few of mine.



Thessaly, Larissa (360 - 325 B.C.)
Æ Dichalkon
O: Head of Larissa facing slightly left, wearing ampyx; grain ears in hair.
R: Horseman riding right, holding lance;
5.84g
19mm
Rogers 284; BCD Thessaly II 393; HGC 4, 530



AR Drachm
O: Helmeted head of Athena right, sphinx on bowl; T/Θ behind neck guard
R: Warrior on horseback right, wearing petasos, holding mace overhead; T in exergue; all within incuse square.
5.59g
19mm
Lavva 144 (V68/R84); BCD Thessaly II 645.

Ex. Solidus Auction 59, part of lot 1028


Kelenderis, Cilicia, (440 - 400 B.C.)
AR Stater
O: Young man riding sideways on horse galloping left, nude, preparing to dismount, bridle in left hand on near side of horse, whip in left hand, A below before hind legs.
R: Goat crouching left on solid exergue line, head turned looking back right, KEΛEN over ivy spray with leaf and berries, all in a shallow round incuse.
Kelenderis (Aydincik, Turkey) mint
10.83g
20.1mm
Celenderis Hoard 3 (O15/R15); SNG BnF 46; cf. BMC Cilicia p. 52, 10 (KEΛ); SNGvA 5617 (KEΛEN)

Ex. Numismatik Naumann Auction 77 (5 May 2019), lot 304.

 

Quintus Labienus
40-39 BC

 

Is that a Lipizzaner?

 

Ah, a noble steed, indeed.

Very nice coins.

 

With all his tack and equipment!

 

I was gonna add my Corinthian stater, but then I realised that Pegasus is not real horse. Luckily I have a Roman chariot.

 

Can you please tell us what it is?

 

I'm not sure what the breed is. I thought that Lipizzaner's were Austrian.

 

Sorry about the Pegasus but I will allow any unicorn coins you have to count. I think they were issued by the city-state of Utopia in every year there was a Greek Kalends.

 

Not a coin, but me visiting American Pharoah at Coolmore Stud on a very cold day! If you’ve never visited the thoroughbred farms in Central Kentucky you really should.

 

I once jumped bareback on a horse training for the Three Day Event at the KY Horse Park. Made it 10 feet before I took off flying.


Taras, Calabria AR Triartemorion.
Obv: Bridled horses head right.
Rev: Bridled horses head right, bird before.
10mm., 0.43gm.
380-228 BC.

 

Nice write up and some lovely looking coins!

 

I think I've posted all my ancient coins with horses before, multiple times, so I'll just pick one for this post:

Roman Republic, C. Servilius M.f., AR Denarius 136 BCE. Obv. Head of Roma right wearing winged helmet, wreath behind neck, ROMA beneath with * [XVI monogram] to left / Rev. Dioscuri on horseback galloping in opposite directions, heads turned back to face each other, both twins holding their spears downwards behind horses, C. SERVEILI M F in exergue. RSC I Servilia 1, Crawford 239/1, Sydenham 525, Sear RCV I 116 (ill.), BMCRR Italy 540. 19.35 mm., 3.89 g. [Sear says that this is the first Republican denarius with “ROMA” legend on obverse, and the second to use the monogram * for XVI .]



Instead of more ancient coins with horses, here's an Athenian horse departing for parts unknown with its rider and his attendants in about 525-500 BCE, as shown on this Attic black-figure lekythos (10.8 cm. high).












Note the hound chasing a hare on the shoulder, putting the vase in the Hound and Hare Group of Attic lekythoi. See https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG58829, explaining that the term refers to "a group of Athenian black-figure vase-painters whose names are unknown who produced vases with a similar style of drawing (mostly lekythoi). Beazley (following Haspels ABL) named them the Hound and Hare group because of the unusual subject (a hound pursuing a hare) decorating the shoulder. A few vases have been attributed to this group on the basis of style." For lekythoi like this one, the Hound and Hare Group is usually considered a subset of the Little Lion Class because of its shape, and the general presence of animals on the shoulder: see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG59217.

Jumping forward about 2,300 years, here are a few British horses during the Napoleonic Wars, on the reverses of three medals in the James Mudie series of medals, issued in 1820, commemorating British victories during the Napoleonic Wars:

Great Britain, English Army in Egypt, 1801 (Struck 1820). Obv. Bust facing, uniformed, LIEUT: GENL.: SIR R: ABERCROMBY. Rev. Horse standing, r.; beyond, three pyramids. ARRIVAL OF THE ENGLISH ARMY IN EGYPT. In exergue: 8 March 1801. AE 41 mm. By T. Webb. Mudie 8, Eimer 929, BHM 504.



Great Britain, Egypt Delivered, 1801 (Struck 1820). Obv. Bust three-quarters l., uniformed. MAJOR GEN. LORD HUTCHINSON. Rev. Exchanging a treaty, Hutchinson facing the Bey of Egypt, who holds the reins of a rearing horse; a pyramid beyond. EGYPT DELIVERED. In exergue: SEPT 11 MDCCCI. AE 41 mm. By T. Webb/A. Dupre. Mudie 9, Eimer 934, BHM 509.



Great Britain, Battle of Waterloo medal, 1815 (Struck 1820). Obv. Bust r. HENRY WILLIAM MARQUIS OF ANGLESEY. Rev. Equestrian figure of Anglesey l., leading a cavalry charge. CHARGE OF THE BRITISH AT WATERLOO. Ex. JUNE XVIII. MDCCCXV. AE 41 mm. By G. Mills/ A.J. Depaulis. Mudie 34, Eimer 1069, BHM 859.

 

My OTHER favorite coin with a horse on it. Not ancient but still beautiful.

1923 Germany, Westphalia
10000 Mark Notgeld
Mintage: 315,809

 

I see you survived the event.