Chariot is a term applied to horse-drawn vehicles used both for pleasure and in war. Ancient chariots, such as those used among the Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans, were of various forms. A common form was open behind and closed in front, and had only two wheels.
The chariot was strongly and even elegantly built, but not well adapted for speed. In ancient warfare chariots were of great importance; thus we read of the 900 iron chariots of Sisera, as giving him a great advantage against the Israelites. The Philistines in their war against Saul had 30,000 chariots.
The sculptures of ancient Egypt show that the chariots formed the strength of the Egyptian army, these vehicles being two - horsed and carrying the driver and the warrior, sometimes a third man, the shield-bearer. There is no representation of Egyptian soldiers on horseback, and consequently when Moses in his song of triumph over Pharaoh speaks of the horse and his rider, rider must be understood to mean chariot-rider. In the Egyptian chariots the framework, wheels, pole, and yoke were of wood, and the fittings of the inside, the bindings of the framework, as well as the harness were chiefly of raw hide or of tanned leather.
We have also numbers of sculptures which give a clear idea of the Assyrian chariots. These resembled the Egyptian in all essential features, containing almost invariably three men - the warrior, the shield-bearer, and the charioteer. A peculiarity of both is the quiver or quivers full of arrows attached to the side. The Assyrian war-chariot was drawn by three horses abreast, and all the appointments were rich and elaborate. It had two quivers crossing each other on the side, filled with arrows, and each also containing a small axe. A socket for holding the spear was also attached. From the front of the chariot a singular ornamental appendage stretched forward.
War-chariots had sometimes scythe-like weapons attached to each extremity of the axle, as among the ancient Persians and Britons. Among the Greeks and Romans chariot-races were common.
In Britain the name chariot was formerly given to a kind of light travelling carriage. Research Chariot
A collective noun (or collective name) is a name which denotes or represents a number of individual items. For example, a number of sheep together is known as a 'flock'. The word 'flock' is the collective noun for a number of sheep. Some items have multiple collective nouns, for example a collection of goats can be known as a 'herd', a 'tribe' or a 'trip'.
Ambush is the collective noun for a group of tigers.
Army is the collective noun for a group of frogs, ants,
Array is the collective noun for a group of hedgehogs.
Badelynge is the collective noun for a group of ducks on the ground.
Bale is the collective noun for a group of turtles.
Barren is the collective noun for a group of mules.
Basket is the collective noun for a group of plums.
Battery is the collective noun for a group of barracuda.
Bazaar is the collective noun for a group of guillemots.
Bed is the collective noun for a group of clams.
Bench is the collective noun for a group of bishops, magistrates.
Bevy is the collective noun for a group of quail, roes, swans, pheasants, ladies.
Brace is the collective noun for a group of bucks.
Brood is the collective noun for a group of chickens.
Building is the collective noun for a group of rooks.
Bunch is the collective noun for a group of grapes, flowers.
Bundle is the collective noun for a group of asparagus.
Business is the collective noun for a group of ferrets.
Caravan is the collective noun for a group of camels.
Cast is the collective noun for a group of hawks, falcons.
Cete is the collective noun for a group of badgers.
Charm is the collective noun for a group of goldfinches.
Chatter is the collective noun for a group of budgerigars.
Chattering is the collective noun for a group of choughs.
Chine is the collective noun for a group of polecats.
Clamour is the collective noun for a group of rooks.
Clous is the collective noun for a group of gnats.
Clowder is the collective noun for a group of cats.
Clump is the collective noun for a group of trees.
Cluster is the collective noun for a group of grapes, spiders.
Clutch is the collective noun for a group of eggs.
Clutter is the collective noun for a group of spiders.
Colony is the collective noun for a group of gulls, frogs, penguins, ants, beavers.
Company is the collective noun for a group of widgeon, parrots.
Congregation is the collective noun for a group of plovers.
Convocation is the collective noun for a group of eagles.
Covert is the collective noun for a group of coots.
Covey is the collective noun for a group of partridges, grouse.
Crash is the collective noun for a group of rhinoceros.
An oxbow is a piece of wood comprising a concave curve between two convex curves, thereby resembling a bow in appearance, used as a collar for a yoked ox, the ends being fastened to the yoke. The term is used in furniture to describe draws and the like which have a similar serpentine shape. Research Oxbow
Cneius Julius Agricola was a Roman consul, general and colonial governor. He was born in 37 and died in 93. A Roman consul under the Emperor Vespasian, and governor in Britain, the greater part of which he reduced to the dominion of Rome he distinguished himself as a statesman and general. His life, written by his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, gives the best extant account of Britain in the early part of the period of the Roman rule. He was the twelfth Roman general who had been in Britain, but was the only one who effectually subdued the southern portion of it and reconciled the Britons to the Roman yoke. This he did by teaching them the arts of civilization and to settle in towns. He constructed the chain of forts between the Forth and the Clyde, defeated Galgacus at the battle of the Grampians, and sailed round the island, discovering the Orkneys. Research Agricola
Andreas Hofer was a Tyrolese patriot. He was born in 1767 and died in 1810. In 1796 he led a rifle company against the French on Lake Garda, and after the Peace of Luneville took a prominent part in the organization of the Tyrol militia. In 1809 he took the lead in an insurrection of the Tyrolese for shaking off the yoke of Bavaria, to which their country had been transferred by the Treaty of Presburg. In a short time, with intermittent assistance from the Austrians, he defeated the French and Bavarian troops, and nearly the whole country was liberated. Andreas Hofer then carried on the military and civil administration, under the most singular circumstances, until the Peace of Vienna was proclaimed. Misled by false reports he commenced hostilities anew, and thus forfeited the protection of the amnesty. He remained concealed for some time, but was at last betrayed to the French, and carried to Mantua, where he was tried by a court-martial and shot, on February the 20th, 1810. His family was indemnified for the loss of their property by the Emperor of Austria in 1819, and his son ennobled. Research Andreas Hofer
Arminius was an ancient German hero celebrated by his fellow-countrymen as their deliverer from the Roman yoke. He was born about 18-16 BC, and died in 19 AD. Having been sent as a hostage to Rome, he served in the Roman army, and was raised to the rank of eques. Returning home he found the Roman governor, Quintilius Varus, making efforts to Romanize the German tribes near the Rhine. Placing himself at the head of the discontented tribes he completely annihilated the army of Yarus, consisting of three legions, in a three days' battle fought in the Teutoburg forest. For some time he baffled the Roman general Germanicus, and after many years' resistance to the vast power of the empire he drew upon himself the hatred of his countrymen by aiming at the regal authority, and was assassinated. A national monument to his memory was inaugurated on the Grotenburg, near Detmold, in 1875. Research Arminius
The Bathori were a Hungarian family, which gave Transylvania five princes, and Poland one of its greatest kings. The more important members were: Stephen born in 1532, elected Prince of Transylvania in 1571, on the death of Zapolya, and in 1575 king of Poland. He accomplished many internal reforms, recovered the Polish territories in possession of the Czar of Muscovy, and reigned prosperously until his death in 1586.
Sigismund, nephew of Stephen, educated by the Jesuits, became waiwode or prince of Transylvania in 1581, shook off the Ottoman yoke, and had begun to give hopes of reigning gloriously when he resigned his dominions to the emperor Rudolph II, in return for two principalities in Silesia, a cardinal's hat, and a pension. Availing himself, however, of an invitation by the Transylvanians, he returned, and placed himself under the protection of the Porte, but was defeated by the Imperialists in every battle, and finally sent to Prague, where he died almost forgotten in 1613.
Elizabeth, niece of Stephen, king of Poland, and wife of Count Nadasdy, of Hungary. She is said to have bathed in the blood of 300 young girls in the hope of renewing her youth, and to have committed other attrocities. She was latterly seized and confined until her death in 1614. Research Bathori
Cimon was an ancient Athenian general and statesman. He lived around the 5th century BC. He was a son of the great Miltiades. He fought against the Persians in the battle of Salamis in 480 BC and shared with Aristides the chief command of the fleet sent to Asia to deliver the Greek colonies from the Persian yoke.
The return of Aristides to Athens soon after left Cimon at the head of the whole naval force of Greece. He distinguished himself by his achievements in Thrace, having defeated the Persians by the Strymon, and made himself master of the country. He conquered the pirate-island of Scyros, subdued all the cities on the coast of Asia Minor, pursued the Persian fleet up the Eurymedon, destroyed more than 200 of their ships, and then, having landed, on the same day entirely defeated their army in 469 BC. He employed the spoil which he had taken in the embellishment of Athens, and in 463 reduced the revolted Thasians; but the popular leaders, beginning to fear his power, charged him on his return with having been corrupted by the King of Macedon. The charge was dropped, but when Cimon's policy of friendship to the Lacedaemonians ended in the latter insulting the troops sent by Athens to their aid, his opponents secured his banishment.
He retired into Boeotia, and his request to be allowed to fight with the Athenians against the Lacedaemonians in 457 at Tanagra was refused by the suspicious generals. Eventually Cimon was recalled at the instance of Pericles to conclude a peace with Lacedaemon. He died shortly after, in 449, while besieging Citium in Cyprus. Research Cimon
John Hyrcanus, was a Jewish high-priest and ruler of the Asmonean family. He was the son and successor of Simon Maccabseus, and assumed the title of prince and high-priest in 137 BC, freed Judaea from the yoke of the Syrians, and founded a dynasty of rulers which lasted until the accession of Herod. He also subjugated the Samaritans and Idumseans. He died in 105 BC., leaving five sons, two of whom, Aristobulus and Alexander, afterwards governed with the title of kings. Research John Hyrcanus
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Abbreviations
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