CURRUS (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_, and closed in front, in which they differed from the _cisium_. The most essential articles in the construction of the currus were, 1. The rim (ἄντυξ) [ANTYX]. 2. The axle (ἄξων, _axis_). 3. The wheels (κύκλα, τροχοί, _rotae_), which revolved upon the axle, and were prevented from coming off by the insertion of pins (ἔμβολοι) into the extremities of the axles. The parts of the wheel were:--(_a_) The nave (πλήμνη, _modiolus_). (_b_) The spokes (κνῆμαι, literally, the _legs, radii_.) (_c_) The felly (ἴτυς). (_d_) The tire (ἐπίσωτρον, _canthus_). 4. The pole (ῥυμός, _temo_). All the parts above mentioned are seen in the preceding cut of an ancient chariot. The Greeks and Romans 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 jugales_, _equi bijuges_, &c. If a third horse was added, as was not unfrequently the case, it was fastened by traces. The horse so attached was called παρήορος, παράσειρος, σειραφόρος, in Latin, _funalis_, and is opposed to the ζυγῖται or ζύγιοι, the yoke-horses. The ἵππος παρήορος is placed on the right of the two yoke-horses. (See woodcut.) The Latin name for a chariot and pair was _biga_, generally _bigae_. When a third horse was added, it was called _triga_. [Illustration: Triga. (From a Painting on a Vase.)] [Illustration: Quadrigae. (From Paintings on a Vase and a Terra-cotta.)]