The term coach is now generally applied to a chartered or long distance, usually single-decker bus. However, traditionally coach was a general name for all covered carriages drawn by horses and intended for the rapid conveyance of passengers.
The earliest carriages appear to have been all open, if we may judge from the figures of Assyrian and Babylonian chariots found on the monuments discovered amidst the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, At Rome both covered and uncovered carriages were in use. After the fall of the Roman Empire they went out of use again, and during the feudal ages the custom was to ride on horseback, the use of carriages being considered effeminate. They do not appear to have become common until the 10th century, and even then were regarded exclusively as vehicles for women and invalids. Later on they became, especially in Germany, part of the appendages of royalty.
Coaches seem to have been introduced into England about the middle of the 16th century, but were for long confined to the aristocracy and the wealthy classes. Hackney-coaches were first used in London in 1625. They were then only twenty in number, and were kept at the hotels, where they had to be applied for when wanted. In 1634 coaches waiting to be hired at a particular stand were introduced, and had increased to 200 in 1652, to 800 in 1710, and to 1000 in 1771.
Stagecoaches were introduced into England about the same time as hackney-coaches. The first stage-coach in London appears to have ran early in the 17th century, and before the end of the century they were started on three of the principal roads in England. Their speed was at first very moderate, about 3 or 4 miles an hour. They could only run in the summer, and even then their progress was often greatly hindered by floods and by the wretched state of the roads generally. In 1700 it took a week to travel from York to London; in 1754 a body of Manchester merchants started a conveyance, the Flying Coach, of an improved kind, which did the journey to London in the unusually short period of four days and a half, and thirty years later a Mr. Palmer of Bath, after a considerable amount of opposition, succeeded in inducing the government to put in practice certain suggestions which he made, by which he showed that great saving both of time and money in the conveyance of passengers and letters would be effected. The result was the establishment of the system of mail-coaches, which continued to be the means of travelling in England until their place was taken by the railways. The first mail-coach started between London and Bristol on the 8th of August, 1784. The manufacture of elegant carriages was a proof of much wealth and mechanical skill in a place, many different workmen being employed in their construction, and both the materials and the workmanship requiring to be of the best. British-built carriages, especially those made in London, held the first place for a combination of strength and elegance. Research Coach
Scapulomancy (scapulimancy) is divination by reading the cracks which appear in a scapula (shoulder-blade) when it is roasted over an open fire. It was widely practised in ancient Babylon. Research Scapulomancy
Alexander The Great was king of Macedon (Macedonia). He was born in 356 BC at Pella and died in 323 BC.
Following the assassination of his father, Philip, in 336 BC Alexander ascended the throne determined to carry out the expedition that his father had been preparing against the Persians. Before he could, however, he had to chastise the barbarian tribes on the frontiers of Macedon, as well as quell a rising in Greece in which he took and destroyed Thebes, killing 6000 of the inhabitants and imprisoning 30,000. Leaving Antipater confirmed as commander-inc-chief of the Greek forces in the general assembly of the Greeks, he crossed over the Hellespont into Asia in 334 BC with 30,000 foot and 5000 horse soldiers.
His first encounter with the Persian forces (assisted by Greek mercenaries) was at the small river Granicus, where he gained a complete victory. Most of the cities of Asia Minor surrendered to him, and Alexander restored democracy in all the Greek cities. Marching onwards he conquered Lycia, Ionia, Caria, Pamphylia and Cappadocia. In 333 BC he defeated the Persian emperor Darius and his army of 500,000 men near Issus. Heading south, Alexander conquered the Mediterranean cities, including Tyre following a seven month siege, and then Palestine and Egypt, founding the city Alexandria as he did so.
Returning, Alexander was met by Darius and a new immense army which Alexander defeated at Gaugamela in 331 BC, taking Babylon and Susa and afterwards the Persian capital Persepolis. He later decided to unite the nations of Macedon and Persia, married the eldest daughter of Darius and rewarded those of his men who married Persian women. Following his sudden death in 323 BC his empire was divided among his chief generals, and became the scene of continual wars. Research Alexander The Great
Berosus was a priest of the temple of Belus at Babylon early in the third century BC. He wrote in Greek a history of the Babylonian Chaldeans founded on the ancient archives of the temple of Belus. It is known only by the quotations from it in Apollodorus, Eusebius, Josephus, etc. Research Berosus
Croesus was the last King of Lydia. He reigned from 560 BC until 546 BC, conquered Ionia extending the empire from the northern and western coasts of Asia Minor to the Halys on the east and MountTaurus on the south, including the Greek colonies of the mainland. and became an ally of Sparta. His riches, obtained chiefly from mines and the gold-dust of the river Pactolus, were greater than those of any king before him, so that his wealth became proverbial. Croesus joined with Nabonidus of Babylon to oppose Cyrus of Persia, but was overthrown by him at Sardis in 546 BC. The date of his death is unknown, but he survived his captor, and is referred to in the reign of Cambyses. Research Croesus
Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Persian Empire. Head of a Persian tribe he overthrew the MedianEmpire and became King of the Persians around 555 BC. He was a wise and tolerant ruler who released the Jews from Babylon and allowed them to rebuild Jerusalem. Research Cyrus The Great
In Jewish legend, Daniel was a prophet. He was a contemporary of Ezekiel, and was born of a distinguished Hebrew family. In his youth, in 605 BC, he was carried captive to Babylon, and educated in the Babylonish court for the service of King Nebuchadnezzar. Thrown into the lions' den for conscientiously refusing to obey the king he was allegedly miraculously preserved, and finally made prime-minister in the court of the Persian king Darius. He ranks with what are called the 'greater prophets.' The book of the Old Testament which bears his name is divided into a historical and a prophetic part. Modern criticism generally regards it as written during the oppression of the Jews under Antiochus, about 170 BC. It is partly in Chaldee. Research Daniel
Darius I was the fourth king of Persia. The son of Hystaspes, a prince of the royal family of the Achsemenidae, he attained the throne in 521 BC. His reign was distinguished by many important events. He reduced, after a two years' siege, the revolted city of Babylon, and led an expedition of 700,000 men against the Scythians on the Danube, from which he extricated himself after suffering great losses. To revenge himself against the Athenians who had promoted a revolt of the Ionian cities, he sent an army under Mardonius to invadeGreece. But the ships of Mardonius were destroyed by a storm in doublingMountAthos in 492 BC, and his army was cut to pieces by the Thracians. Darius, however, fitted out a second expedition of 500,000 men, which was met on the plains of Marathon by an Athenian army 10,000 strong, under Miltiades, and completely defeated in 490 BC. Darius had determined on a third expedition when he died in 485 BC. Research Darius I
DariusI was the fourth king of Persia. The son of Hystaspes, a prince of the royal family of the Achsemenidae, he attained the throne in 521 BC. His reign was distinguished by many important events. He reduced, after a two years' siege, the revolted city of Babylon, and led an expedition of 700,000 men against the Scythians on the Danube, from which he extricated himself after suffering great losses. To revenge himself against the Athenians who had promoted a revolt of the Ionian cities, he sent an army under Mardonius to invadeGreece. But the ships of Mardonius were destroyed by a storm in doublingMountAthos in 492 BC, and his army was cut to pieces by the Thracians. Darius, however, fitted out a second expedition of 500,000 men, which was met on the plains of Marathon by an Athenian army 10,000 strong, under Miltiades, and completely defeated in 490 BC. Darius had determined on a third expedition when he died in 485 BC. Research Darius I
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Coach
