CHARIOT, a half coach or carriage with four wheels and one seat, used for convenience and pleasure. Chariot. The chariots of the ancients had two wheels, and were supported by a pole (or sometimes by two, or even three, as among the Lydians). They were used in war and in the public games, and were called by the several names of bigæ, trigæ, or quadrigæ, according to the number of horses used to draw them. A chariot carried two men, the warrior and the charioteer; and we read of several men of note and valour employed in driving the chariot. When the warriors came to encounter in close fight, they alighted and fought on foot; and when weary, they retired to their chariots, and thence annoyed the enemy with darts and missile weapons. These chariots were so strongly built that they lasted for several generations. We also find frequent mention of the currus falcati, or chariots armed with hooks or scythes, with which whole ranks of soldiers were sometimes cut down. These were used by the Persians, Syrians, Egyptians, and other eastern nations, and also among the ancient Britons. By the Greek and Roman historians these chariots are described by the various names of benna, petoritum, currus or carrus, corinus, essidum, and rheda. The benna seems to have been a chariot designed rather for travelling than for war. It contained two persons, who were thence called combennones. The petoritum seems to have been a larger kind of chariot than the benna, and is thought to have derived its name from the British word pedicar, signifying four, as this kind of carriage had four wheels. The carrus or currus was the common cart or waggon. This kind of chariot was used by the ancient Britons, in time of peace, for the purposes of agriculture and merchandise; and, in time of war, for carrying their baggage, and wives and children, who commonly followed the armies of all the Celtic nations. The corinus was a war-chariot, and a very terrible instrument of destruction, being armed with sharp scythes and hooks for cutting and tearing all who happened to come within its reach. This kind of chariot was made very light, being designed to drive with great force and rapidity, and to do execution chiefly with its hooks and scythes. The essidum and rheda were also war-chariots, probably of a larger size and stronger make than the corinus, being designed for containing a charioteer to conduct it, and one or two warriors to fight. The greater number of the British war-chariots seem to have been of this kind. These chariots were found in great numbers among the Britons; insomuch that, according to Cæsar, Cassivelaunus, after dismissing all his other forces, retained no fewer than four thousand war-chariots about his person. The same author relates, that by continual practice they had arrived at such perfection in the management of their chariots, that in the most steep and difficult places they could stop their horses when at full speed, turn them which way they pleased, run along the pole, rest on the harness, and throw themselves back into their chariots with incredible dexterity.