3.] The _carpentum_, in which the Roman matrons rode at the great public festivals, was similarly closed, both in front and behind, as is evident from the representations which we have of it on medals and tombs.
Except in the case of these covered vehicles, and of the chariots used in war and hunting, horses (as already observed) were not employed for draught.

The Assyrians appear to have regarded them as too noble for this purpose, unless where the monarch and those near to him were concerned, for whose needs nothing was too precious.

On the military expeditions the horses were carefully fed and tended.

Portable mangers were taken with the army for their convenience; and their food, which was probably barley, was brought to them by grooms in sieves or shallow boxes, whence no doubt it was transferred to the mangers.

[PLATE CXL., Fig.