[Illustration: FIG. 125. HORSE’S MUZZLE] Riding was the usual mode of travel in Greece, as it is still in many parts of that mountainous country; and, while carts and carriages of various kinds gradually came into service among the Romans, in Italy, too, the horse was the commonest means of travel. But although the Greeks and Romans were good horsemen, they were probably not the equals of the best modern riders, owing to the fact that they had no saddles and no stirrups. As a result of the absence of stirrups, able-bodied persons mounted with the help of a spear or staff, while old men were handed up by slaves. Women rode only upon a pillion, and probably not very often in that way. The custom of nailing metal shoes upon the hoofs of horses was not known, but shoes made of metal, leather, or rushes were adjusted before passing over a specially bad road, and could later be removed when no longer needed. Two bits are shown on the bottom of Case 4. One is quite simple, consisting of two bars joined by a double link, which probably belongs to the sixth century, though no doubt this type was in use for a long period (fig. 127); the other, probably of the fifth or fourth century, is very severe. Xenophon in his treatise on Horsemanship (X, 6) describes this variety and explains its use in training horses (fig. 124). Branding was practised even for valuable animals. On a small amphora in Case C in the Fifth Room decorated with a picture of the Sun in his chariot, one of the horses is branded with a sun surrounded by rays. It was customary to muzzle horses when they were taken out for exercise or for some other purpose without a bridle. Probably the muzzles were usually made of leather, but bronze was employed on special occasions or by the wealthy. Two bronze muzzles, one of a simple, the other of a more elaborate form, are exhibited (Case 4, fig. 125). [Illustration: FIG. 126. YOUNG HORSEMAN] [Illustration: FIG. 127. BRONZE BIT] Greek boys received lessons in riding in the course of their athletic training, which was, of course, a preliminary military training as well. In Attica a troop of ephebes, young men in military service, patrolled the borders as a mounted guard. The decoration on a krater in Case P in the Fifth Room and a relief in Case A in the Sixth Room represent members of this troop in their short cloaks fastened on the shoulder and their broad-brimmed hats. The fine relief, No. 13 in the Sculpture Gallery, also represents an ephebe (fig. 126) or one of the Diaskouri in this guise. Hunting deer and boars from horseback was a favorite sport which required skill in the rider, and riding-races of various types were a feature of the games. One of the Panathenaic amphorai was a prize for a horse-race at Athens, as the decoration shows. The bronze statuette of a horse at the head of the main staircase allows us to see the type of animal bred in Greece, and is at the same time a work of the greatest spirit and delicacy. [Illustration]