Where this was not the case, the danger was escaped by opening the ranks and letting the chariots pass through them to the rear, a good account being speedily given of any adventurer who thus isolated himself from the support of his own party.
The Persian war-chariot was, probably, somewhat loftier than the Assyrian.

The wheels appear to have been from, three to four feet in diameter; and the body rose above them to a height from the ground of nearly five feet.

The person of the warrior was thus protected up to his middle by the curved board which enclosed the chariot on three sides.
The axle-tree is said to have been broad, since breadth afforded a security against being overturned, and the whole construction to have been strong and solid.

The wheels had twelve spokes, which radiated from a nave of unusual size.

The felloes were narrower than the Assyrian, but were still composed, like them, of two or three distinct layers of wood.
The tires were probably of metal, and were indented like the edge of a saw.