It look like, due to "dynamic stabilisation", we can now pull off this wonder of two-wheeled ancient military vehicles.
You would control it using reins and wear period costumes that double as extreme sports protective gear. The poll for the horse would have to be shortened to some kind of safe stub into which the reins feed. It would go as fast as possible and wheel blades would be optional.
Furthermore the wide base, generally large enough for at least two men to drive and attack from, could be the right size for moderate loads of shopping and groceries.-- Aristotle, Dec 05 2001 One of these ... http://www.astor-th...n-hur/chariot1.jpeg... without the horses. [Aristotle, Dec 05 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] What the Victorians did for us http://www.bbc.co.u...grammes/victorians/An excellent BBC TV series presented by Alan Hart-Davies. [Aristotle, Dec 06 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] What the Mespotamians did for us http://www.wright.e...one-moore/mesop.htmActually it's a article entitled Mespotamian Legacy that explains a bit about the role of chariots in the ancient world. [Aristotle, Dec 06 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] Ancient Egyption Chariot Making http://emuseum.mnsu.../chariotmaking.htmlHigh-tech transport in the ancient world. [Aristotle, Dec 07 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] Segway Skiing http://www.crunchge...gway-segway-skiing/ [theircompetitor, Jan 02 2009] I think the ultimate in retro vehicles would be the horseless sled (no wheels, just pull it along the ground). I'm not sure how that'd work.
Still, if you can make one of these, it'd be fun for all those Ben Hur fantasies. As long as whipping it made it go faster (a good excuse to buy a whip).-- pottedstu, Dec 05 2001 A horseless sled could have a concealed track between the rails to pull it along.
The whip for a horseless vehicle could have a motion sensor so it measures your frantic attempts to get the virtual horses moving faster. You could also have nerf javelins or arrows to thrown at your opponents if you were going Babylonian.-- Aristotle, Dec 05 2001 As I said it would use "dynamic stablisation", which is one of the technologies that Segway uses. However it would be a larger format, styled to look like an ancient chariot and controlled by reins and a whip. The pole is the point to which the horses would have been hitched, if it had horses.-- Aristotle, Dec 05 2001 I think the segway would be getting a lot less "ho-hums" if they had dressed it up like this idea suggests.-- beauxeault, Dec 05 2001 The ultimate in retro vehicles could be the single stone wheel with a rough-hewn wooden axle that is depicted in the form of that "BC" cartoon figure riding his stone wheel unicycle. Half of a horseless chariot.-- bristolz, Dec 05 2001 One of the many designs that feature in the "Segway" patent was a single wheeled vehicle surrounded by a platform. So a unicycle is not impossible and the stone-like wheel could just be a facia.
[light hearted banter cleaned up]-- Aristotle, Dec 06 2001 Croissant for the idea name. I'm still laughing about 'horseless chariot', no doubt to be continued...-- reensure, Dec 06 2001 [reensure] Then go see my idea for a Chariotless Horse!*
*nudge, nudge-- zaphod12, Dec 06 2001 It is no concidence that I watched the BBC TV series "What the Victorians Did for Us" recently, which featured the classic "horseless carriage", a vehicle better known as the fore-runner to the modern motor-car. (see links about the Victorians and Mespotamians).-- Aristotle, Dec 06 2001 The Hitites introduced horses to warfare when they attacked Mesopotamia in 2070 B.C. so the horse must have been in the neighborhood prior to then. Maybe it was the Kassites. . . .-- bristolz, Dec 06 2001 One authorative source (see link) places the origins of the chariot in Mespotamia about 2000 B.C.E.-- Aristotle, Dec 07 2001 a "horseless" anything can't be good.....
actually, if memory serves correctly, there were 4 "types" of horses in 4 different regions that were domesticated at different times....
Definitive records show a man riding a horse (found in a tomb in Egypt) dates to 1600 B.C.E.
Kikkulis the Mittanite wrote "The Chariot Training Manual" around 1400 BCE.
The Assyrians around 800 BCE also left detailed records of riding.
Xenophon (b. 430 BCE), from Athens, left the best accounts in Hippike and Hipparchikos.
They actually make "Equine Trivia Pursuit" and sell it to nuts like me......-- Susen, Dec 07 2001 Badgers? Badgers? We don't need no steenkeeng Badgers!-- thumbwax, Dec 07 2001 Okay, now you have me completely confused, PeterSealy. Chariots are (were) the essential intermediate step to what? Horses existing, and being ridden (and perhaps being used in warfare) in the Americas?As far as I am concerned horses didn't exist before 1973.-- bristolz, Dec 07 2001 Try sex; now, try sex on a confused horse.-- reensure, Dec 08 2001 Bristolz, be careful. Don't want you to go like Catherine the Great.
<Yes, I know.>-- StarChaser, Dec 08 2001 She died of a heart attack. I have a ways to go before that, I hope.-- bristolz, Dec 08 2001 Notice the bit in brokets, Bristolz. I know she died of a heart attack...but it wasn't -funny- like that.-- StarChaser, Dec 09 2001 You done lost me-- bristolz, Dec 09 2001 Me: Bristolz, be careful. Don't want you to go like Catherine the Great.
Bristolz: She died of a heart attack. I have a ways to go before that, I hope.
Me: <Yes, I know.> <-Brokets.
I know she didn't die by being crushed under a horse <A stallion, to be exact. Ahem...>, but it wasn't funny like that.
<I hope so too...>-- StarChaser, Dec 09 2001 A legend I knew nothing about, apparently. I think I need Close Captioning for the Post Impaired.-- bristolz, Dec 09 2001 no you don't bristolz, I couldn't work it out either-- po, Dec 09 2001 Has anyone noticed how much smarter the average Halfbaker is than the average Internet user or person in general? Think about it. Where else would you see people arguing about the Hittites and the Assyrians? Where else would you see an average of less than one spelling/grammar error per post?-- magnificat, Dec 09 2001 me jane, you prat-- po, Dec 09 2001 thats very uncivil of me - totally out of character --
me prat - you jane-- po, Dec 09 2001 [magnificat] obviously missed out on [mp9man], [Team Rocket] and a few others. They put the average down a point or two.-- angel, Dec 10 2001 speak for you're elf, Una.-- lewisgirl, Dec 11 2001 I wonder what kind of stereo it would have. Would it be able to play back 3 foot wide gold discs engraved by ancient Egyptians?-- Amishman35, Dec 21 2001 Think of it. Iraq gave us transportation!-- pashute, Nov 29 2002 random, halfbakery