[1376] The principal works with which I am acquainted that contain
information respecting the antiquity of horse-shoes, are the following:
Pancirollus De Rebus Deperditis, ii. tit. 16, p. 274.--J. Vossius in
Catulli Opera. Ultrajecti, 1691, 4to, p. 48.--Lexicon Militare, auctore
Carolo de Aquino. Romæ, 1724, fol. ii. p. 307.--Gesner in his Index
to Auctores Rei Rusticæ, art. Soleæ ferreæ.--Montfaucon, Antiquité
Expliquée, iv. liv. 3. p. 79.--Le Beau, in Mémoires de l’Académie des
Inscriptions. vol. xxxix. p. 538.--Archæologia, London, 1775, 4to, iii.
p. 35 and 39.
[1377] Histor. Anim. ii. 6, p. 165, edit. Scaligeri. They appear not
to have been used at all times, but only when the hoofs began to be
injured.
[1378] Hist. Nat. lib. xi. cap. 43.
[1379] A few observations respecting _spartum_ maybe of service to
those who wish to carry their researches further. The ancients, and
particularly the Greeks, understood by that appellation several species
of plants which could be used and manufactured like flax or hemp, and
which appear to have been often mentioned under that general name. The
Greeks however understood commonly by _spartum_ a shrub, the slender
branches of which were woven into baskets of various kinds, and which
produced young shoots that could be prepared and manufactured in the
same manner as hemp; and this plant, as has already been remarked by
the old botanists, is the _Spartium junceum_, or Spanish broom, which
grows wild on dry land, that produces nothing else, in the Levant and
in the southern parts of Europe. This broom is that described and
recommended in Comment. Instituti Bonnoniensis, vi. p. 118, and vi.
p. 349. The French translator of the papers here alluded to is much
mistaken when he thinks, in Journal Economique, 1785, Novembre, that
the author speaks of the common broom (_Spartium scoparium_) that
grows on our heaths. M. Broussonet, in Mémoires d’Agriculture, par la
Société de Paris, 1785, p. 127, has also recommended the cultivation
of the _Spart. junceum_, under the name of _genêt d’Espagne_, and
enumerated the many uses to which it may be applied. The people in
Lower Languedoc, especially in the neighbourhood of Lodeve, make of it
table-cloths, shirts and other articles of dress. The offal or rind
serves as firing. This _spartum_ of the Greeks, or _Spartium junceum_
of the botanists, is the species called by Pliny, book xxxix. chap.
9, _genista_, and which he improperly considers as the Spanish and
African _spartum_. The latter is certainly the _Stipa_ (_Macrochloa_)
_tenacissima_, which grows in Spain and Africa, called there at present
_sparto_ or _esparto_, and which is still prepared and employed as
described by Pliny, b. xix. c. 2. Baskets, mattresses, ship-cables,
and other strong ropes were made of it; and when this grass had been
prepared like hemp, it was used for various fine works. Even at present
the Spaniards make of it a kind of shoes called _alpergates_, with
which they carry on a great trade to the Indies, where they are very
useful on the hot, rocky and sandy soil. [Moritz Willkomm, in his
Botanical Notices from Spain (Annals of Natural History for March
1845), notices among the most valuable vegetable productions of Spain,
“the celebrated Esparto (_Macrochloa tenacissima_), which, growing on
many of the hills situated near the sea, forms an important article
of trade in South Spain, since this tough grass is used partly for
the plaiting of coverings for rooms and balconies, and for making
various sorts of baskets, especially panniers for mules, chairs, and
the peculiar sandals which are worn all over the kingdom; and partly
worked into ropes, which are in great request, and are manufactured in
great quantity at Marseilles.”] Whether the ancients made shoes for
their cattle of the _Spartium junceum_ or the _Stipa tenacissima_, I
will not venture to determine. It is probable that the former was used
by the Greeks, and the latter by the Romans; and it is highly worthy of
being here remarked, that in modern times a kind of socks for horses
were made of a species of _spartum_, as we learn from J. Leonis Africæ
Descriptio, lib. iii. p. 120. The same author however says expressly,
p. 96, that common shoes of iron were also used.
[1380] Columella, vi. 12, 3: “Spartea munitur pes.” vi. 15, 1: “Spartea
calceata ungula curatur.” Vegetius, i. 26, 3: “Spartea calceare
curabis.” See also ii. 45, 3. Galen De Alim. Facult. i. 9: Σπαρτὸς ἐξ
οὗ πλέκουσι ὑποδήματα ὑποζυγίοις. Is there not some reason therefore to
conclude that this practice was followed not merely in regard to cattle
only that were diseased?
[1381] Sueton. Vita Neronis, cap. 30.
[1382] Plin. lib. xxxiii. cap. 11.--Scheffer, De Re Vehiculari, proves
that we are here to understand she-mules.
[1383] Dio Cassius, lxii. 28, and lxxiii. Commodus caused the hoofs of
a horse to be gilt.
[1384] Commentar. in Epictetum, lib. iii.
[1385] Xenophon De Cyri Min. Expedit. p. 228.
[1386] B. F. Hermann, Beytrage zur Physik. Œkonomie der Russischen
Länder. Berlin, 1786, 8vo, part i. p. 250. The same account respecting
the dogs of Kamtschatka is given in Cook’s last Voyage.
[1387] Catullus, viii. 23. By which passage it appears that the shoe
was of iron, iron wire, or plate-iron.
[1388] Sueton. Vita. Vespasian seems to have suspected that his driver
had been bribed to stop by the way, and that he had done so on pretence
of shoeing his horses. Had the mules been shod, and had the driver only
had to rectify something that related to the shoe, as our coachmen
have when a nail is lost, or any other little accident has happened,
Suetonius would not have said _mulas_, but _mulam_. The driver
therefore stopped for the first time on the journey to put on the shoes
of his cattle, as has been remarked by Gesner.
[1389] Artemidori Oneirocritica. Lutetiæ, 1603, 4to, lib. iv. cap. 32.
[1390] Déscription des Pierres Gravées du Baron de Stosch, 1760, p. 169.
[1391] Appian. De Bello Mithridat. edit. Tollii, p. 371.
[1392] Diodor. Sicul. lib. xvii. 94, edit. Wesselingii, p. 233.
Vegetius, i. 56, 28, mentions a salve, “quo ungulæ nutriantur, et
medicaminis beneficio subcrescat quod itineris _attriverat_ injuria.”
[1393] Joh. Cinnamus De Rebus Gestis Imperat. edit. Tollii, 1652, 4to,
lib. iv. p. 194. Vegetius, ii. 58, recommends rest for horses after a
long journey, on account of their hoofs.
[1394] No traces of them are to be found in the figures given by
Chardin, and by Niebuhr in the second volume of his Travels. The latter
mentions this circumstance in particular, and says, p. 157, “It appears
that the ancient Persians had no stirrups and no proper saddle.”
[1395] De Columna Trajani, c. 7.
[1396] Pierres Gravées de Stosch, p. 169.
[1397] Navigium seu Vota. “Nunquam equum ullum ascendi ante hunc diem.
Proinde metuo, tubicine classicum intonante, decidens ego in tumultu a
tot ungulis conculcer, aut etiam equus ferocior existens, arrepto freno
in medios hostes efferat me, aut denique oporteat me alligari ephippio,
si manere super illud debeam, frenumque tenere.”--Had stirrups been
then in use, he would have been exposed also to the danger of being
dragged along by the heels. When I extracted the above passage, I had
no edition of Lucian at hand, but that of Basle, 1563, 12mo. It may be
found there, vol. ii. p. 840.
[1398] The prophet Isaiah, chap. v. ver. 28, to make the enemy appear
more terrible, says, “The hoofs of their horses shall be counted like
flint;” and Jeremiah, chap. xlvii. v. 3, speaks of the noise made by
the horses stamping with their hoofs. See Bochart. Hierozoic. i. p. 160.
[1399] De Re Equestri, cap. iv. p. m. 599.
[1400] Lib. i. cap. 56, 28, 30; also lib. ii. cap. 57, 58.
[1401] J. Ludolphi Hist. Æthiop. i. cap. 10, and his Commentarium,
p. 146.--Thevenot, vol. ii. p. 113.--Voyage de Le Blanc, part ii. p.
75, 81.--Lettres Edifiantes, vol. iv. p. 143.--Tavernier, vol. i. c.
5.--Hist. Gen. des Voyages, vol. iii. p. 182.--Kæmpfer, Histoire du
Japan, Amst. 1732, 3 vols. 12mo, ii. p. 297. The passage of the last
author, where he mentions the articles necessary for a journey in
Japan, is worthy of notice: “Shoes for the servants and for the horses.
Those of the latter are made of straw, and are fastened with ropes of
the same to the feet of the horses, instead of iron shoes, such as
ours in Europe, which are not used in this country. As the roads are
slippery and full of stones, these shoes are soon worn out, so that it
is often necessary to change them. For this purpose those who have the
care of the horses always carry with them a sufficient quantity, which
they affix to the portmanteaus. They may however be found in all the
villages, and poor children who beg on the road even offer them for
sale, so that it may be said there are more farriers in this country
than in any other; though, to speak properly, there are none at all.”
Almost the same account is given by Dr. Thunberg, a later traveller in
Japan. “Small shoes or socks of straw,” says he, “are used for horses
instead of iron shoes. They are fastened round the ankle with straw
ropes, hinder stones from injuring the feet, and prevent the animal
from stumbling. These shoes are not strong; but they cost little, and
can be found every where throughout the country.” Shoes of the same
kind, the author informs us, are worn by the inhabitants.--TRANS.
[1402] De Re Equestri, p. 599.
[1403] Hipparch, p. m. 611.
[1404] Virg. Æneid. lib. iv. 135. lib. xi. 600, 638.
[1405] Virg. Æneid. lib. vi. 803. Ovid. Heroid. ep. xii. 93, and
Metamorph. lib. vii. 105. Apollonius, lib. iii. 228.
[1406] Iliad. lib. v. 785. Stentor is there called χαλκεόφωνος. Iliad.
lib. xviii. 222, Achilles is said to have had a brazen voice. Virg.
Georg. lib. ii. 44: ferrea vox.
[1407] Tryphiod. by Merrick, Ox. 1739, v. 86, p. 14.
[1408] The first figure may be found in Anastasis Childerici, Francorum
regis, sive Thesaurus sepulchralis Tornaci Nerviorum effossus; auctore
J. J. Chifletio. Antverpiæ, 1655, 4to, p. 224. Montfaucon, in Monarchie
Françoise, i. p. 16, has given also an engraving of it. Childeric died
in the year 481. In 1653 his grave was discovered at Tournay, and
a gold ring with the royal image and name found in it afforded the
strongest proof that it was really the burying-place of that monarch.
In the year 1665, these antiquities were removed to the king’s library
at Paris.
[1409] The whole account may be found at the end of the Annals, in the
Paris edition by Fabrotti, 1647, fol. p. 414.
[1410] The words ὑποδήματα and _soleæ_.
[1411] Leonis Tactica, v. 4. p. 51.--In the passage where he names
every thing belonging to the equipage of a horseman, he says, πέδικλα
σελιναῖα σιδηρὰ μετὰ καρφίων αὐτῶν. I shall here first remark, that
after πέδικλα there ought to be a comma, for by that word is meant
the ropes with which saddled horses were fastened. Du Cange says
πεδικλοῦν signifies _to bind_. See likewise Scheffer’s Annotations
on Mauricii Ars Militaris, p. 395. The translator also has improperly
said, “Pedicla, id est calceos lunatos ferreos cum ipsis carphiis.”
Κάρφια means _nails_, as Du Cange has proved by several instances, and
here _horse-shoe nails_. The word may be found for the second time in
the tenth century, in the Tactica of the Emperor Constantine, where the
whole passage, however, is taken from Leo without the least variation;
so that we may suppose Constantine understood it in the same sense
as Leo. It is used, for the third time, by the same emperor, twice
in his book on the Ceremonial of his own court. In p. 265, where he
speaks of the horses (τὰ ἱππάρια) which were to be procured for the
imperial stable; these, he says, were to be provided with every thing
necessary, and to have also σελιναῖα. In page 267 it is said further,
that a certain number of pounds of iron should be given out from the
imperial stores to make σελιναῖα, and other horse-furniture. The same
word is used a fourth time by Eustathius, who wrote in the twelfth
century, in his commentary on Homer, Χαλκὸν δὲ νῦν λέγει τὰ σελιναῖα
ὑπὸ τοῖς ποσὶ τῶν ἵππων, οἷς διακόπτονται εἰς πλέον τὰ πατούμενα. See
Iliad. lib. xi. 152. Though I do not believe that Homer had the least
idea of horse-shoes, I am fully convinced that Eustathius alludes to
them by that word. This commentator has explained very properly various
passages of the like kind in Homer; but he seems here, as was the case
sometimes with his poet himself, to have been asleep or slumbering.
When one considers that the σελιναῖα, or σεληναῖα, belonged to
horse-furniture; that they were made of iron; that, as Eustathius
says, they were placed under the hoofs of the horses; that the word
seems to show its derivation from the moon-like form of shoes, such as
those used at present; and lastly, that nails were necessary to these
σελιναῖα; I think we may venture to conclude, without any fear of
erring, that this word was employed to signify horse-shoes of the same
kind as ours, and that they were known, if not earlier, at least in the
ninth century.
[1412] This life of Matilda may be found in Leibnitii Scriptores
Brunsvicenses, vol. i. p. 629; but the fullest and most correct edition
is in Muratori Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. Mediolani 1724, fol. vol.
v. p. 353.
[1413] Histoire de France, vol. i. p. 566. The author here speaks of
the cavalry of Louis le Débonnaire.
[1414] Dugd. Bar. i. 58. ex Chron. Bromtoni, p. 974, 975, Blount’s
Tenures, p. 50.
[1415] Brook’s Discovery of Errors in the Catalogue of the Nobility, p.
198.
[1416] Beckmann in Beschreibung der Mark Brandenburg, Berlin, 1751,
2 vols. fol. i. p. 401, mentions an old shoe found in a grave, the
holdfasts of which did not project downwards but upwards. Arnkul in his
Heidnischen Alterthümern speaks also of a horse-shoe found near Kiel.