The chariot was invented about 1700 BC and quickly became the most important weapon in the ancient armies of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Hittites.
The chariot was invented about 1700 BC and quickly became the most important weapon in the ancient armies of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Hittites.
But its importance declined after the Assyrians began to introduce large numbers of true cavalrymen into their armies about 700 BC.
By the 1st Century BC the Romans used chariots only for racing or in processions.
Few armies still used them, with two notable exceptions.
The army of the eastern king Mithridates, who ruled a kingdom on the shores of the Black Sea called Pontus, featured large chariots with sharp metal scythes protruding from their wheel hubs.
In theory, the chariots, pulled by four large horses, would drive at speed into the massed ranks of the enemy, its scythes causing huge casualties.
In practice, though, the chariots were extremely unstable and the slightest unevenness on the ground caused them to turn over.
If they did manage to stay upright, the driver would dive to safety when the chariot was still yards from the enemy.
This left no one to steer, so enemy soldiers would merely open their ranks to leave a gap for the chariot horses to gallop through harmlessly.
A second exception was found in Britain.
In the 1st Century BC a lighter, more mobile, two-horse chariot was still used in large numbers by the Celtic tribes.
The Celts of mainland Europe had long since abandoned the chariot for the horse, but the Brits proved more conservative.
Julius Caesar, in his account of his expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC, remarked on how skilfully the Britons handled these chariots, which were light enough for a man to carry.
In the 1970s archaeologists at a late Iron Age site at Gussage All Saints in Dorset found the remains of what is believed to be a Celtic chariot-making factory dedicated to the large-scale production of the war vehicles.
Snettisham Treasure
The priceless collection of Celtic jewellery known as the Snettisham Treasure was found buried in a field in Snettisham, Norfolk, between 1948 and 1990. It consists of more than 150 gold, silver and bronze necklaces plus many coins.
Scholars think it may be the royal treasure of the Iceni tribe that ruled East Anglia in the 1st Century BC.
Life of Spartacus
Spartacus was born in Thrace (modern Bulgaria) and served for a spell in the Roman army before deserting. He was captured and sold as a slave to a gladiatorial training school in Capua, southern Italy.
In 73 BC he and a group of other gladiators escaped and formed an army. They were joined by huge numbers of runaway slaves, said by the Romans to number almost 90,000.
For two years Spartacus and his army looted and pillaged across Italy, defeating five Roman armies sent to stop them. Finally, in 71 BC, the Roman general Marcus Crassus crushed the rebel army in battle.
Spartacus himself was among the dead. The rebels who survived were crucified.
