Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/145

 people, and for a long period had but few cavalry; indeed, not until Numidia and Gaul had become Roman provinces had they a respectable cavalry force. The Gauls were fond of the horse, and were good horsemen; their cavalry was much superior to their infantry, being composed of nobles, followed by their own people. The cavalry was styled 'Trimarkisiæ' (tri-march-kesec, Celtic for three horses combined), in consequence of each soldier having the attendance of three horses. Pausanias, mentioning that every Celtic horseman was followed to battle by two attendants, says that this custom was in their language called 'Trimarkisian,' because the name of a horse among them is markan. Mark or march is also a horse, tri is three, and trimarkwys is literally three horsemen in the ancient British and present Welsh.

The same writer, speaking of those who had reached Delphi, says that 'each of the horsemen had with him two esquires, who were also mounted on horses; when the cavalry was engaged in combat, these esquires were posted behind the main body of the army, either to replace the horsemen who were killed, or to give their horse to their companion if he lost his own, or to take his place in case he were wounded, while the other esquire carried him out of the battle.'

These equestrian habits of the Celtic Gauls are confirmed by a large number of proofs, historic and archæeologic. Not only does the Celtic name for the horse, 'march,' form the root of a long list of districts, towns, nations, and individuals, but also all the terms employed in cavalry or the manége, and even those hippiatric