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THE ARMY AND NAVY. 159Previous to the Macedonian times, the distinction between heavy and lighthorse seems to have been unknownin Greece it ; though would be too much to assert that adifference in the equipmentsno where prevailed. TheAthenian horsemen were equipped much like a moderncuirassier, with breastplate, helmet, and greaves and;eventhe horses were partlycovered. 1From the exercises whichXenophon prescribes, to leap over ditches and walls, wemust not conceive the armour as too cumbersome. 3 I findno accounts of that of the Thessalian cavalry; but from3what Pausanias says,it could not have been very light.With respectto the infantry,the difference betweenheavy and light-armed troops 4 prevailed throughout allGreece. The former were armed for the attack and closeconflict. .They wore a coat of mail and helmet the rest of; the body was protected by the shield. For the attack theyhad both spear-and sword. The light troops,unencumberedwith that heavy armour, carried the javelin, with bow andarrows. 5The weapons continued, therefore, the same as thosewhich we find used in the Homeric But age. many inquiries and many attempts were made to improve them invarious respects.Whether a straightor curved sword wasthe 6best; whether a longeror shorter shield deserved thepreference; 7 above all,how the weight of the coat of mailcould be diminished, and whether it should he made ofmetal or of some lighter substance, 8 were questions of nolittle importance. Yet previous to the Macedonian age, wehear of no changes which could givea new character to thewhole ;and therefore we must leave to the antiquarianallfurther particularresearches.1Xenoph. de Re Equestri, Op. p. 951, has described them minutely.2Xenoph. Op. p. 944.8 Pausan. p. 797. The horsemen who had "been thrown down, "being unable to rise, were slain by the Phocians.4 'OTrXIrat and ^i\oL See Potter's Archseolog.*Bow and arrows do not seem to have been favourite weapons ; they areseldom mentioned, and only in connexion with certain tribes, as the Cretans.Javelins were preferred. These were carried by the cavalry, as appears fromXenoph. 11. cc.*Xenoph. Op. p. 953,7Hence the different names Bvptbg and ffdcG> the large shield, fawk andTreXrij, the small one, etc.8The invention of the lightercoat of mail distinguishes Iphicrates.Cornel,Nep. in Iphic. c. 1.