[6] “We account for this difference by supposing that in battle, when success depended in a great measure upon the stability of the chariot, special care was taken to provide a strong wheel, while a weaker one was considered good enough for a more peaceful employment, a four-spoked wheel in those days being much cheaper and lighter.” _Stratton._ [7] The Assyrians also possessed curious litters. “Two eunuchs,” says Stratton, “are shown carrying a sort of arm-chair on their shoulders, elegant in design, supplied with wheels, to be drawn by hand should the king have occasion to visit mountainous regions inaccessible for chariots.” [8] _The History of Coaches._ G. A. Thrupp. London, 1877. [9] See p. 39. [10] Stratton treats of these Roman carriages and carts in considerable detail, and mentions in addition to the _plostellum_, or small _plaustrum_, the _carrus_, _monarchus_, and _birotum_. Of these the _carrus_, or cart, differed from the _plaustrum_ in the following particulars: “The box or form could not be removed, as in the former case, but was fastened upon the axle-tree; it lacked the broad flooring of planks or boards, which served as a receptacle for certain commodities when the sides were removed; the wheels were higher [and] ... spoked, not solid like the _tympana_.” The _carrus clabularius_, or stave-waggon, could be lengthened or shortened as required. The _monarchus_ was a very light two-wheeled vehicle something like the _cisium_. The _birotum_ was also a small two-wheeled vehicle, with a leather-covered seat, used in the time of Constantine, an “early post-chaise,” as Stratton puts it. [11] The carts of north Italy in the eighteenth century had remained practically unchanged. Edward Wright, who visited Italy in 1719, thus describes them: “The carriages in Lombardy, and indeed throughout all Italy, are for the most part drawn with oxen; which are of a whitish colour: they have very low wheels. Some I saw without spokes, solid like mill-stones; such as I have seen describ’d in some antique basso-relievos and Mosaicks. The pole they draw by is sloped upwards towards the end; which is rais’d considerably above their heads; from whence a chain, or rope, is let down and fasten’d to their horns; which keeps up their heads, and serves to back the carriage. In some parts they use no yokes, but draw all by the horn, by a sort of a brace brought about the roots of them: the backs of the oxen are generally cover’d with a cloth. In the kingdom of Naples, and some other parts, they use buffaloes in their carriages, &c. These do somewhat resemble oxen: but are most sour, ill-looking animals, and very vicious; for the better management of them they generally put rings in their noses.” [12] _The World on Wheels._