In early ages the rider sat on the bare back of his horse without
anything under him[1321]; but, in the course of time, some kind of
covering, which consisted often of cloth, a mattress, a piece of
leather or hide, was placed over the back of the animal. We are
informed by Pliny[1322], that one Pelethronius first introduced
this practice; but who that person was is not certainly known.
Such coverings became afterwards more costly[1323]; they were made
frequently in such a manner as to hang down on both sides of the horse,
as may be seen by the beautiful engravings in Montfaucon[1324], and
were distinguished among the Greeks and Romans by various names[1325];
but even after they were common, it was reckoned more manly to ride
without them. Varro boasts of having rode, when a young man, without
a covering to his horse; and Xenophon[1326] reproaches the Persians
because they placed more clothes on the backs of their horses than
on their beds, and gave themselves more trouble to sit easily than
to ride skilfully. On this account such coverings were for a long
time not used in war; and the old Germans, who considered them as
disgraceful, despised the Roman cavalry who employed them[1327]. The
information, therefore, of Dion Cassius[1328], according to whom such
coverings were first allowed to the Roman cavalry by Nero, is very
doubtful. This author, perhaps, alludes only to reviews, at which, it
is probable, the cavalry were before obliged always to appear without
them. In the time of Alexander Severus, the horses of the whole Roman
cavalry had beautiful coverings[1329]. Saddles, however, at that period
were certainly unknown, though they afterwards obtained the old name
_ephippium_, which originally signified nothing more than a covering
for a horse. Xenophon says, a rider, whether placed on the bare back of
the animal or on a covering, must not assume a position as if he sat
upon one of those seats which people use in carriages[1330].
Our saddles at present consist of a wooden frame called the
saddle-tree, which has on the fore part the pommel; behind it the
crupper; and at the sides the stirrups. In the inside they are stuffed
like a cushion, and on the outside are covered with leather or cloth.
They are made fast to the horse by means of a girth which goes round
the animal’s belly; and the breast-leather and crupper prevent them
from being moved either forwards or backwards. It is extremely probable
that they were invented in the middle of the fourth century: but it
is hardly possible to find any certain proof; for we have reason to
believe that the ancient covering was gradually transformed into a
saddle. Pancirollus[1331] thinks that the first mention of a saddle
is to be found in Zonaras; and many have adopted his opinion. This
historian relates that Constantine the younger was killed in the year
340 when he fell from his saddle. But in this proof alone I place very
little confidence; and Pancirollus seems to have founded his assertion
on the Latin translation, in which the word _sella_ is used. Both the
Greek and Latin terms[1332], it is true, were employed at later periods
to signify a proper saddle; but the Greek word was used long before for
the back of the horse, or the place where the rider sat; and the words
of Zonaras may be so understood as if Constantine was killed after he
had fallen from his horse[1333].
Montfaucon[1334] has given a figure of the pillar of Theodosius the
Great, on which he thinks he can distinguish a saddle; and indeed, if
the engraving be correct, it must be allowed that the covering of the
horse on which the rider sits seems, in the fore part, to resemble
the pommel, and behind the extremity of the saddle-tree of our common
saddles.
The clearest proof of the antiquity of saddles is the order of the
emperor Theodosius in the year 385, by which those who wished to ride
post-horses were forbidden to use saddles that weighed more than sixty
pounds. If a saddle was heavier, it was to be cut to pieces[1335].
This passage appears certainly to allude to a proper saddle, which at
that period, soon after its invention, must have been extremely heavy;
and we may conclude from it also, that every traveller had one of his
own. As the saddle is here called _sella_, and as that word occurs
oftener at this than at any other period, for the seat of the rider,
it is probable that it is to be understood afterwards as signifying a
real saddle. Besides, it cannot be denied that where it is used, many
other little circumstances are found which may with great propriety be
applied to our saddles.
Nazarius, in his panegyric on Constantine the Great, describing the
manner in which the enemy’s cavalry were destroyed, says that, when
almost lifeless, they hung _sedilibus_. Lipsius is of opinion that
they could have hung in this manner only by saddles; but there is
reason to think that they might lay hold of the coverings of the
horses, if it be certain that these were girded to the animals like
our saddles. Of this, however, there is no proof; for though some have
asserted that _postilena_ signified a girth, that meaning has not been
supported by sufficient authorities; and it is more probable that the
words _postilena_, _antilena_, and also _postella_ and _antella_, as
well as the girth itself, which they are supposed to express, were
not introduced till after the invention of saddles. The first word
occurs in Plautus[1336]; but it perhaps alludes to some part of the
harness of draught-horses or cattle. Vegetius[1337] distinguishes
saddle-horses from others; and the saddle-tree seems to be mentioned by
Sidonius Apollinaris[1338]. In the fifth century saddles were made so
extravagantly magnificent, that a prohibition was issued by the emperor
Leo I. in which it was ordered that no one should ornament them with
pearls or precious stones[1339]. In the sixth century, the emperor
Mauritius required that the saddles of the cavalry should have large
coverings of fur[1340]. Further information respecting saddles in later
times may be seen in Du Cange, who has collected also various terms of
art to which the invention of saddles gave rise, such as _sellatores_,
saddlers, of which the French have made _selliers_; _sellare_, the
saddle-tree; _sellare_ and _insellare_, to saddle. The ignominious
punishment of bearing the saddle, of which a good account may be found
in Du Cange[1341], had its origin in the middle ages. The conjecture of
Goropius Becanus[1342], that the saddle was invented by the _Salii_,
and named after them, is not worth refutation; as it is perfectly
clear that the denomination of _sella_ arose from the likeness of a
saddle to a chair; and by way of distinction Sidonius and the emperor
Leo say _sella equestris_; and Jornandes says _sella equitatoria_.
Others, perhaps, will pass no better judgement on a conjecture which
I shall here venture to give. I consider it as probable that the
invention of saddles belongs to the Persians; because, according to
the testimony of Xenophon, they first began to render the seat of the
rider more convenient and easy, by placing more covering on the backs
of their horses than was usual in other countries. Besides, the horses
of Persia were first made choice of in preference for saddle-horses, on
account, perhaps, of their being early trained to bear a saddle, though
Vegetius[1343] assigns a different reason.