Currus
dim.
Curricŭlum (
ἅρμα). A
chariot, a car. These terms appear to have denoted those two-wheeled vehicles for the carriage
of persons which were open overhead, thus differing from the
carpentum
(q. v.), and closed in front, in which they differed from the
cisium (q.
v.). One of the most essential parts in the construction of the currus was the
ἄντυξ, or rim; and it is accordingly seen in all the chariots which
are represented in this article. Another indispensable part was the axle, made of oak
(
φήγινος ἄξων), and sometimes also of ilex, ash, or elm.
The cars of Heré and Poseidon have metallic axles. One method of making a chariot
less liable to be overturned was to lengthen its axle, and thus to widen the base on which it
stood. The axle was firmly fixed under the body of the chariot, which, in reference to this
circumstance, was called
ὑπερτερία, and which was often made
of wicker-work, enclosed by the
ἄντυξ. Fat (
λίπος) and pressed olives (
amurca) were used to
grease the axle.
The wheels (
κύκλα, τροχοί,
rotae）
revolved upon the axle, as in modern carriages; and they were prevented from coming off by the
insertion of pins (
ἔμβολοι) into the extremities of the axle
(
ἀκραξονία). Pelops obtained his celebrated victory over
Oenomaüs through the artifice of Hippodamia, who, wishing to marry Pelops, persuaded
Myrtilus, the charioteer of his adversary, to omit inserting one of the linchpins in the axle
of his car, or to insert one of wax. She thus caused the overthrow and death of her father,
Oenomaüs, and then married the conqueror in the race.
Sir W. Gell describes, in the following terms, the wheels of three cars which were found at
Pompeii: “The wheels light, and dished much like the modern, 4 feet 3 inches
diameter, 10 spokes, a little thicker at each end.” These cars were probably
intended for the purposes of common life. From Xenophon we learn that the wheels were made
stronger when they were intended for the field of battle. After each excursion the wheels were
taken off the chariot, which was laid on a shelf or reared against a wall, and they were put
on again whenever it was wanted for use.
The parts of the wheel were as follows:
（
a) The nave or hub, called
πλήμνη,
χοινικίς,
modiolus. The last two terms are founded on the
resemblance of the nave to a modius or bushel.
The nave was strengthened by being bound with an iron ring, called
πλημνόδετον.
（
b) The spokes,
κνῆμαι (literally,
“the legs”),
radii. We have seen that the spokes were
sometimes ten in number. In other instances they were eight (
κύκλα
ὀκτάκνημα), six, or four. Instead of being of wood, the spokes of the chariot of
the Sun, constructed by Hephaestus, were of silver (
radiorum argenteus
ordo).
（
c) The felly,
ἴτυς. This was
commonly made of some flexible and elastic wood, such as poplar or the wild fig, which was
also used for the rim of the chariot; heat was applied to assist in producing the requisite
curvature. The felly was, however, composed of separate pieces, called arcs (
ἁψῖδες). Hence the observation of Plutarch that, as a
“wheel revolves, first one
apsis is at the highest point, and
then another.” Hesiod evidently intended to recommend that a wheel should consist of
four pieces.
（
d) The tire,
ἐπίσωτρον,
canthus. Homer describes the chariot of Heré as having a tire of
bronze upon a golden felly, thus placing the harder metal in a position to resist friction and
to protect the softer. The tire was commonly of iron.
All the parts now enumerated are seen in an ancient chariot preserved in the Vatican, a
representation of which is given in the following illustration.
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Currus. (Vatican.)
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This chariot, which is in some parts restored, also shows the pole (
ῥυμός,
temo). It was firmly fixed at its lower extremity to
the axle, whence the destruction of Phaëthon's chariot is represented by the
circumstance of the pole and axle being torn asunder (
temone revulsus
axis). At the other end (
ἀκρορρύμιον) the pole was
attached to the yoke, either by a pin (
ἔμβολος), as shown in
the chariot above engraved, or by the use of ropes and bands. See
Iugum.
Carriages with two, or even three, poles were used by the Lydians. The Greeks and Romans, on
the other hand, appear never to have used more than one pole and one yoke, and the currus thus
constructed was commonly drawn by two horses, which were attached to it by their necks, and
therefore called
δίζυγες ἵπποι, συνωρίς,
gemini iugales, equi biiuges.
If a third horse was added, as was not unfrequently the case, it was fastened by traces. It
may have been intended to take the place of either of the yoke-horses (
ζύγιοι ἵπποι) which might happen to be disabled. The horse so
attached was called
παρήορος. When Patroclus returned to
battle in the chariot of Achilles, two immortal horses, Xanthus and Balius, were placed under
the yoke; a third, called Pedasus, and mortal, was added on the right hand; and, having been
slain, caused confusion, until the driver cut the harness by which this third horse was
fastened to the chariot.
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Currus with Three Horses. (Ginzrot.)
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Ginzrot has published two drawings of chariots with three horses from Etruscan vases
in the collection at Vienna. The
ἵππος παρήορος is placed
on the right of the two yoke-horses. We also observe traces passing between the two
ἄντυγες, and proceeding from the front of the chariot on each side
of the middle horse. These probably assisted in attaching the third or extra horse.
The Latin name for a chariot and pair was
biga. (See
Biga.) When a third horse was added, it was called
triga; and, by the same analogy, a chariot and four was called
quadriga; in Greek,
τετραορία or
τέθριππος.
The horses were commonly harnessed in a quadriga after the manner already represented, the
two strongest horses being placed under the yoke, and the two others fastened on each side by
means of ropes. This is implied in the use of the epithets
σειραῖος or
σειραφόρος, and
funalis or
funarius, for a horse so attached. The two exterior
horses were further distinguished from one another as the right and the left trace-horse. In a
chariot-race described by Sophocles, the driver, aiming to pass the goal, which is on his left
hand, restrains the nearest horse, and gives the reins to that which was farthest from
it—viz., the horse in traces on the right hand (
δεξιὸν δ̓
ἀνεὶς σειραῖον ἵππον). In the splendid triumph of Augustus after the battle of
Actium, the trace-horses of his car were ridden by two of his young relations. Tiberius rode,
as Suetonius relates,
sinisteriore funali equo, and Marcellus
dexteriore funali equo. As the works of ancient art, especially fictile
vases, abound in representations of quadrigae, numerous instances may be observed in which the
two middle horses (
ὁ μέσος δεξιὸς καὶ ὁ μέσος
ἀριστερός) are yoked together as in a biga; and, as the two lateral ones have
collars (
λέπαδνα) equally with the yoke-horses, we may
presume that from the top of these proceeded the ropes which were tied to the rim of the car,
and by which the trace-horses assisted to draw it. The first figure in the following
illustration is the chariot of Aurora, as painted on a vase found at Canosa. The reins of the
two middle horses pass through rings at the extremities of the yoke. All the particulars which
have been mentioned are still more distinctly seen in the second figure, taken from a
terra-cotta at Vienna. It represents a chariot overthrown in passing the goal at the circus.
The charioteer having fallen backwards, the pole and yoke are thrown upwards into the air;
the two trace-horses have fallen on their knees, and the two yoke-horses are prancing on their
hind-legs.
If we may rely on the evidence of numerous works of art, the currus was sometimes drawn by
four horses without either yoke or pole; for we
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Currus with Four Horses.
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see two of them diverging to the right hand and two to the left, as in the beautiful
cameo given below, which represents Apollo surrounded by the signs of the zodiac. If the
ancients really drove the quadriga thus harnessed, we can only suppose the charioteer to have
checked its speed by pulling up the horses and leaning with his whole body backwards, so as to
make the bottom of the car at its hindermost border scrape the ground—an act and an
attitude which seem not unfrequently to be intended in antique representations.
The currus, like the
cisium, was adapted to carry two persons, and on
this account was called in Greek
δίφρος. One of the two was,
of course, the driver. He was called
ἡνίοχος, because he
held the reins, and his companion
παραιβάτης, from going by
his side or near him. Though in all respects superior, the
παραιβάτης was often obliged to place himself
behind the
ἡνίοχος. He is so represented in the
biga at page 92, and in the
Iliad Achilles himself stands behind his
charioteer Automedon.
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Four-horse Chariots on Gems. (Berlin Museum.)
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On the other hand, a personage of the highest rank may drive his own carriage, and
then an inferior may be his
παραιβάτης, as when Nestor
conveys Machaon (
πάῤ δὲ Μαχάων βαῖνε), and
Heré, holding the reins and whip, conveys Athené, who is in full armour.
In such cases a kindness, or even a compliment, was conferred by the driver upon him whom he
conveyed, as when Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily, “himself holding the reins, made
Plato his
παραιβάτης.” In the contest which has
been already referred to, and which was so celebrated in Greek mythology, Oenomaüs
intrusts the reins to the unfaithful Myrtilus, and assumes the place of his
παραιβάτης, while Pelops himself drives with Hippodamia as his
παραιβάτις, thus honouring her in return for the service she
had bestowed.
The Persepolitan sculptures, and the innumerable paintings discovered in Egyptian tombs,
concur with the historical writings of the Old Testament, and with the testimony of other
ancient authors, in showing how commonly chariots were employed on the field of battle by the
Egyptians, the Persians, and other Asiatic nations. The Greek poetry of the Heroic Ages proves
with equal certainty the early prevalence of the same custom in Greece. The
ἀριστῆες—i. e. the nobility, or men of rank —
who wore complete suits of armour, all took their chariots with them, and in an engagement
placed themselves in front. Such were the
ἱππεῖς, or cavalry
of the Homeric period—the precursors of those who, after some centuries, adopted the
less expensive and ostentatious practice of riding on horseback, but who, nevertheless, in
consideration of their wealth and station, still maintained their own horses, rather to aid
and exhibit themselves individually on the field than to act as members of a compact body. In
Homer's battles we find that the horseman—who, for the purpose of using his weapons
and in consequence of the weight of his armour, is under the necessity of taking the place of
παραιβάτης—often assails or challenges a distant
foe from the chariot; but that, when he encounters his adversary in close combat, they both
dismount, “springing from their chariots to the ground,” and leaving them
to the care of the
ἡνίοχοι. So likewise Turnus is described
by Vergil,
Desiluit Turnus biiugis; pedes apparat ire Comminus. As soon as the
hero had finished the trial of his strength with his opponent, he returned to his chariot, one
of the chief uses of which was to rescue him from danger. When Automedon prepares to encounter
both Hector and Aeneas, justly fearing the result, he directs his charioteer, Alcimedon,
instead of driving the horses to any distance, to keep them “breathing on his
back,” and thus to enable him to effect his escape in case of need.
These chariots, as represented on bas-reliefs and fictile vases, were exceedingly light, the
body often consisting of little besides a rim fastened to the bottom and to the axle. Unless
such had been really their construction, it would be difficult to imagine how so great a
multitude of chariots could have been transported across the Aegean Sea. The light and simple
construction of war-chariots is also supposed by Vergil, when he represents them as suspended
with all kinds of armour on the entrance to the temple of the Laurentian Picus.
We have already seen that it was not unusual in the Homeric battles to drive three horses,
one being a
παρήορος; in a single instance, that of Hector,
four are driven together. In the games, the use of this number of horses was, perhaps, even
more common than the use of two. The form of the chariot was the same, except that it was more
elegantly decorated. But the highest style of ornament was reserved to be displayed in the
quadrigae in which the Roman generals and emperors rode when they
triumphed. The body of the triumphal car was cylindrical, as we often see it represented on
medals. It was enriched with gold (
aureus currus) and ivory. The utmost
skill of the painter and the sculptor was employed to enhance its beauty and splendour. More
particularly the extremities of the axle, of the pole, and of the yoke were highly wrought in
the form of animals' heads. Wreaths of laurel were sometimes hung round it (
currus lauriger), and were also fixed to the heads of the four snow-white horses. The
car was elevated so that he who triumphed might be the most conspicuous person in the
procession, and, for the same reason, he was obliged to stand erect (
in curru
stantis eburno). A friend, more especially a son, was sometimes carried in the same
chariot by his side. When Germanicus celebrated his triumph, the car was
“loaded” with five of his children in addition to himself. The triumphal
car had, in general, no pole, the horses being led by men who were stationed at their heads.
The chariot was an attribute not only of the gods, but of various imaginary beings, such as
Victory, often so represented on coins, vases, and sculptures; Night; and Aurora, whom Vergil
represents as driving either two horses or four, in this agreeing with the figure in the
illustrations on p. 445. In general, the poets are more specific as to the number of horses in
the chariots of the deities, and it rarely exceeded two. Iupiter, as the father of the gods,
drives four white horses when he goes armed with his thunderbolt to resist the giants; Pluto
is drawn by four black horses.
The chariots of Iupiter and of the Sun are, moreover, painted on ancient vases with wings
proceeding from the extremities of the axle (
πτηνὸν ἅρμα;
volucrem currum).
These supernatural chariots were drawn not only by horses, but by a great variety of brute
or imaginary beings. Thus Medea received from the Sun a car with winged dragons. Iuno is drawn
by peacocks, Diana by stags, Venus by doves or swans, Minerva by owls, Mercury by rams, and
Apollo by griffins. To the car of Bacchus, and consequently of Ariadné, are yoked
centaurs, tigers, and lynxes.
Chariots executed in terra-cotta (
quadrigae fictiles), in bronze, or in
marble, an example of which last is shown in the annexed illustration from an
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Biga. (Sala della Biga, Vatican.)
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ancient chariot in the Vatican, were among the most beautiful ornaments of temples
and other public edifices.
No pains were spared in their decoration, and Pliny informs us that some of the most eminent
artists were employed upon them. In numerous instances they were designed to perpetuate
the fame of those who had conquered in the chariotrace. As the emblem of victory, the
quadriga was sometimes adopted by the Romans to grace the triumphal arch
by being placed on its summit; and even in the private houses of great families, chariots were
displayed as the indications of rank or the memorials of conquest and of triumph.
