a hundred such chariots at
his own expense, and provided horses to draw them from his own troop.
He made one chariot much larger than the rest, for himself, as he
intended to take command of this corps of chariots in person. His own
chariot was to be drawn by eight horses. His wife Panthea was very
much interested in these preparations. She wished to do something
herself toward the outfit. She accordingly furnished, from her own
private treasures, a helmet, a corslet, and arm-pieces of gold. These
articles formed a suit of armor sufficient to cover all that part of
the body which would be exposed in standing in the chariot. She also
provided breast-pieces and side-pieces of brass for the horses. The
whole chariot, thus equipped, with its eight horses in their gay
trappings and resplendent armor, and with Abradates standing within
it, clothed in his panoply of gold, presented, as it drove, in the
sight of the whole army, around the plain of the encampment, a most
imposing spectacle. It was a worthy leader, as the spectators
thought, to head the formidable column of a hundred similar engines
which were to follow in its train. If we imagine the havoc which a
hundred scythe-armed carriages would produce when driven, with
headlong fury, into dense masses of men, on a vast open plain, we
shall have some idea of one item of the horrors of ancient war.

The full splendor of Abradates's equipments were not, however,
displayed at first, for Panthea kept what she had done a secret for a
time, intending to reserve her contribution for a parting present to
her husband when the period should arrive for going into battle. She
had accordingly taken the measure for her work by stealth, from the
armor which Abradates was accustomed to wear, and had caused the
artificers to make the golden pieces with the utmost secrecy. Besides
the substantial defenses of gold which she provided, she added various
other articles for ornament and decoration. There was a purple robe,
a crest for the helmet, which was of a violet color, plumes, and
likewise bracelets for the wrists. Panthea kept all these things
herself until the day arrived when her husband was going into battle
for the first time with his train, and then, when he went into his
tent to prepare himself to ascend his chariot, she brought them to
him.

Abradates was astonished when he saw them. He soon understood how they
had been provided, and he exclaimed, with a heart full of surprise a