The words race and course are synonymous, and refer to the foot-races of the ancients.
"A Key to Lord Tennyson's 'In Memoriam'"
Alfred Gatty
She formed the words with her lips as her memory groped for them: The ancients set no value on that half feminine delicacy, that nervous sensibility which we call distinction, and on which we pride ourselves.
"The Locusts' Years"
Mary Helen Fee
The ancients considered a woman grown-up at fourteen.
"Girls of the Forest"
L. T. Meade