a half coach or carriage with four wheels and one seat, used for convenience and pleasure.

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 bigae, trigae, or quadriga, 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 fulcati, 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, pectoritum, currus or currus, coenus, essedum, 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 combenones. The pectoritum seems to have been a larger kind of chariot than the benna, and is thought to have derived its name from the British word peducar, signifying four, as this kind of carriage had four wheels. The currus 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 coenus 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 essedum and rheda were also war-chariots, probably of a larger size and stronger make than the coenus, 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 Caesar, 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.

Chariots were sometimes consecrated to the sun; and it is related in Scripture that Josiah burnt those which had been offered to the sun by the kings, his predecessors. This superstitions custom was an imitation of the heathens, and principally of the Persians, who had horses and chariots consecrated in honour of the sun. Herodotus, Xenophon, and Quintus Curtius, speak of white chariots crowned, which, among the Persians, were consecrated to the sun, and drawn by white horses.

Triumphal Chariot, was one of the principal ornaments of the Roman celebration of a victory.

The Roman triumphal chariot was generally made of ivory, and round like a tower, or rather of a cylindrical figure. It was sometimes gilded at the top, and ornamented with crowns; and in short the utmost skill was employed to render it as splendid as possible. It was commonly drawn Charissus by four white horses; but also frequently by lions, elephants, tigers, bears, leopards, &c.