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Can anyone help with this rather odd query? During Gaugamela Plutarch says that Darius abandoned his chariot and rode away on a mare which had recently foaled. I am sure that somewhere I have read the suggestion that this was for greater speed, but I can't see why this should be so (although I know nothing about horses). Alternatively, could it be because the mare would be more docile after foaling? (Plutarch says the chariot horses were rearing and plunging.)

catharine wrote:Can anyone help with this rather odd query? During Gaugamela Plutarch says that Darius abandoned his chariot and rode away on a mare which had recently foaled. I am sure that somewhere I have read the suggestion that this was for greater speed, but I can't see why this should be so (although I know nothing about horses). Alternatively, could it be because the mare would be more docile after foaling? (Plutarch says the chariot horses were rearing and plunging.)

What an interesting question, Catharine! This has certainly led to my reading more about horse-breeding than I ever expected to (and excellent displacement activity from what I am *supposed* to be doing this morning - thank you).

For the record, the Plutarch reference is: Alexander 33.5.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to come up with an answer ... yet. I was reading one article that looked promising, where it suggested that "mares with 'imprinted' foals tend to be less aggressive ..."; but this was to do with mares' reactions to human contact with their foals, rather than anything else.

So it might be as you suggest, that the foaled mare was more docile. Having said that, I wouldn't have thought that they would necessarily want a more docile horse in the middle of a battle. If Darius was happy to stand in a chariot with rearing and plunging horses, then he wouldn't have a particular need for a docile mare (and there's nothing to suggest that he was otherwise scared of horses, as Philippe Augustus of France apparently was).

Just for the record, I think that Plutarch is the only source who gives us this nugget:

Curtius: There is no mention of any particular horse being used for his escape from Issus (Curtius 3.11.11, 4.1.1-2), and Curtius describes Darius as fleeing from Gaugamela in his chariot (4.15.32-33). In 3.3.15, Curtius describes Darius as riding to war in a chariot.
Diodorus: In 17.37.1 Diodorus says that Darius kept changing from one to another of his best horses after Issus; at Gaugamela (17.60.1-4) he implies that Darius fled in his chariot.
Arrian: In 2.11.4-5 says that Darius fled Issus in his chariot, but changed to horseback when the terrain became too difficult; but there is no mention of the type of horse. At Gaugamela (3.14.3) Arrian merely says that Darius fled.

There is nothing in Justin other than a statement that Darius fled.

The other sources that describe Darius fleeing from Gaugamela are Itinerarium Alexandri (26(lxii)), which says he fled in his chariot; and Paulus Orosius (3.17.3), who just says that he fled.

Cicero (Tusculan Disputations, 5) says that when Darius fled, he drank from a river that was polluted with corpses, but makes no mention of his mode of getaway vehicle.

So, perhaps it was a traditional/religious thing. Or, perhaps, Plutarch is trying to suggest that Darius fled like a woman, and uses the foaled mare as a metaphor. Or, it's just a bit of detail that he picked up and included, which none of the other sources bothered with.

Not sure how much, if any, help this is; but it's distracted me from writing a letter of complaint to my tour company, so thanks!

ATB

This would look to be a metaphorical way of saying that Darius was so desperate to escape that he took any means he could, even a horse unfit for purpose.

If you think about it, a horse that has recently foaled is not going to be fit enough to carry a man on a long hard chase. Darius probably would have ridden her until she dropped - which wouldn't have been as far as a fit horse, not something an escapee would choose. Plus he would have had to fight her as the foal wouldn't be able to keep up - a double waste of valuable horseflesh (and something a horse-loving Macedonian like Alexander wouldn't have condoned).

It is also unlikely that Darius's army would have taken a heavily pregnant mare to battle as she would be no use for riding or hauling and there would be the problem of what do do with her when she gave birth. Therefore Darius, if he did ride a mare, probably would have stolen her from somewhere. Yet he is highly unlikely to have been alone or the only member of his entourage who was mounted, so why couldn't they have found him a better horse, even if it meant leaving someone else behind.

I'm guessing therefore that it is an idiomatic phrase and not meant to be taken literally.

Thank you both for some interesting speculations! I quite like the idea of its being a metaphor for Darius being a bit girly - or for its meaning a horse not fit for purpose, which I suppose must come to the same thing. I wonder where Plutarch got it from. I suppose we will never know.

catharine wrote:Thank you both for some interesting speculations! I quite like the idea of its being a metaphor for Darius being a bit girly - or for its meaning a horse not fit for purpose, which I suppose must come to the same thing. I wonder where Plutarch got it from. I suppose we will never know.

J.R.Hamilton, in his commentary on Plutarch's Alexander, says that Jacoby (at least) thought that all of Plutarch's account of Gaugamela ultimately goes back to Callisthenes. It might be, therefore, that this nugget also came from Callisthenes - who certainly would have had a reason to portray Darius as a bit of a girl's blouse ...

ATB

I did find some other information about escaping on mares which had recently foaled. It is in
Legends and folktales about the land of gold. Archaeology of a folktale motif.Stigmi Publications, Athens 2011. By Ionnis Konstantkakos

This particular excerpt follows an introduction about the legend of the gold-digging ants.

The escape device used by the Indians In Herodotus is noteworthy: they mount on female camels which have recently given birth and have been separated from their new-born offspring in order to take part in the expedition. Thus, when the gigantic ants start pursuing the gold-collectors, the camels run back with amazing speed, moved by maternal instinct and desire for their young ones. A parallel motif occurs in the Alexander Romance (2.39-41): entering the dark land of the blest, Alexander and his companions take with them mares or she-asses that have been separated from their little foals. In the return journey, the animals find the way out of the darkness because they are guided by the desire to reunite with their offspring at the camp. The basic motif is placed in both stories within a narrative about a visit to a precious land. It is not necessary to assume that Romance has copied the motif from Herodotus. Perhaps both stories drew on a common oriental tradition. The escape device may have been part of the original Indian legend from which Herodotus' story is derived. This legend infiltrated the Achaemenid state and thus could be further diffused in the area of the Middle East attaching itself to the tradition of tales that eventually gave birth to the "land of the blest" story in the Alexander Romance.

Best regards,

A bit like a homing pigeon - yes, this explanation really does ring true. My copy of Herodotus reads as follows (3.102, 105): "The Indians... take 3 camels and harness them together, a female in the middle and a male on either side, in a leading rein. The rider sits on the female, and they are particular to choose for the purpose one that has but just dropped her young ... During the flight the male camels, which are not so fleet as the females, grow tired, and begin to drag, first one and then the other; but the females recollect the young which they have left behind, and never give way or flag." There is a footnote to the effect that Marco Polo says that the Tartars adopt the same device when making incursions into the country to the north of them. Fascinating.

catharine wrote:My copy of Herodotus reads as follows (3.102, 105): "The Indians... take 3 camels and harness them together, a female in the middle and a male on either side, in a leading rein. The rider sits on the female, and they are particular to choose for the purpose one that has but just dropped her young ... During the flight the male camels, which are not so fleet as the females, grow tired, and begin to drag, first one and then the other; but the females recollect the young which they have left behind, and never give way or flag." There is a footnote to the effect that Marco Polo says that the Tartars adopt the same device when making incursions into the country to the north of them. Fascinating.

That is indeed fascinating.

Does your edition of Herodotus give a reference for the Marco Polo story? I ask because, after reading this, I have just spent the best part of 45 minutes looking through my copy of Marco Polo and cannot find anything of the sort! I might well have missed it, so a reference would be helpful. The other reason why I am curious to follow this up is that the Tartars didn't use camels - so I am confused, unless the story refers to them doing a similar thing with their horses.

ATB

Tantalisingly, I'm afraid it does not give a reference. Neither does it say anything about what kind of animal the Tartars used so I assume, like you, that it was not a camel! The edition I have is the Everyman translation by Rawlinson, including his own footnotes, dating from 1858 and dedicated respectfully to Gladstone. What is actually printed is Tatars rather than Tartars but I presume that does not make a difference.

Found it here. Ah, the joys of Google followed by the Control + F keys!

EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY
EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS
TRAVEL AND TOPOGRAPHY

MARCO POLO'S TRAVELS
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
JOHN MASEFIELD

CHAPTER XLV

OF THOSE COUNTRIES WHICH ARE TERMED THE REGION OF DARKNESS

BEYOND the most distant part of the territory of those Tartars from whence the skins that have been spoken of are procured, there is another region which extends to the utmost bounds of the north, and is called the Region of Darkness, because during most part of the winter months the sun is invisible, and the atmosphere is obscured to the same degree as that in which we find it just about the dawn of day, when we may be said to see and not to see. 1 The men of this country are well made and tall, but of a very pallid complexion. They are not united under the government of a king or prince, and they live with out any established laws or usages, in the manner of the brute creation. Their intellects also are dull, and they have an air of stupidity. 2 The Tartars often proceed on plundering expeditions against these people, to rob them of their cattle and goods. For this purpose they avail themselves of those months in which the darkness prevails, in order that their approach may be unobserved; but, being unable to ascertain (412) the direction in which they should return homeward with their booty, they provide against the chance of going astray by riding mares that have young foals at the time, which latter they suffer to accompany the dams as far as the confines of their own territory, but leave them, under proper care, at the commencement of the gloomy region. When their works of darkness have been accomplished, and they are desirous of revisiting the region of light, they lay the bridles on the necks of their mares, and suffer them freely to take their own course. Guided by maternal instinct, they make their way directly to the spot where they had quitted their foals; and by these means the riders are enabled to regain in safety the places of their residence.

Best regards,

amyntoros wrote:(412) the direction in which they should return homeward with their booty, they provide against the chance of going astray by riding mares that have young foals at the time, which latter they suffer to accompany the dams as far as the confines of their own territory, but leave them, under proper care, at the commencement of the gloomy region. When their works of darkness have been accomplished, and they are desirous of revisiting the region of light, they lay the bridles on the necks of their mares, and suffer them freely to take their own course. Guided by maternal instinct, they make their way directly to the spot where they had quitted their foals; and by these means the riders are enabled to regain in safety the places of their residence.

Well done, and thanks. I shall find it in my edition of MP!

ATB

Excellent, thank you!

Just getting ready to starting my A-level Alexander course again, with a new set of bright-eyed an bushy-tailed girls! Wish me luck...

catharine wrote:Excellent, thank you!

Just getting ready to starting my A-level Alexander course again, with a new set of bright-eyed an bushy-tailed girls! Wish me luck...

Good luck! I soooooo wish I could teach that course! Instead I'm looking forward to a year of 20th century nonsense

ATB