The chariot changed the face of ancient warfare. First in Mesopotamia, then in Asia Minor and Egypt, charioteers came to dominate the battlefield. Its use as a war machine is graphically recounted in Indian epics and Chinese chronicles. Homer's Iliad tells of the attack on Troy by Greek heroes who rode in chariots. In 326 B.C. Alexander the Great faced charioteers in northern India, while in 55 B.C. Julius Caesar's forces were met by chariots on the beaches of Britain.

1Chariot Battle 7 -- 2 Rise of the Charioteer 39 -- 3 West Asia and Egypt 71 -- 4 Europe 105 -- 5 India 142 -- 6 China 177 -- 7 End of the War Chariot 219 -- 8 Survivals, Ritual and Racing 257 -- Afterword: Modern Myths 293.