When you think of animals among the Romans, you immediately think of the horror of the arenas. Yet the animal spectacles in the amphitheatres were only one facet of how the Romans viewed animals. From loyal watchdog to lion for executions: here is an overview of what Romans did with animals.
Questionable attitude
According to the Romans, only gods and humans had souls, but animals did not. Still, albeit questionably, they loved animals. At home they had a loyal guard dog who became part of the family, as they enjoyed watching wild animals being slaughtered in the arenas.
The Romans did not know animal rights and they really did not understand that they were living beings that could suffer. Yet the fate of an animal in the Roman Empire was not always one of suffering and subordination .
Pets
The Romans also had pets. Dogs were especially popular as guard and hunting dogs. The Romans also came to know cats as good housemates, if only because they ensured that fewer mice and rats would eat their supplies.
But dogs remained popular and were certainly part of the family. During excavations in Pompeii they even found dogs with silver medals bearing the name of the dog and its owner. These animals were often cherished and well cared for.
Romans usually kept animals for practical purposes. A cow can be milked, a sheep provides wool and a chicken provides eggs. Donkeys and horses were practical as riding and pack animals, or to pull carts. Sometimes animals were also kept for aesthetic reasons. For example, peacocks were beautiful to decorate the gardens of the wealthier population. Romans were not big meat eaters and therefore animals were not bred and kept primarily for their meat.
Military
The Romans kept horses as riding and pack animals. The strategic use of the horse was also recognized and the Roman army developed a sophisticated cavalry, which usually served as auxiliary troops and had the advantage of being able to move quickly. It is striking that the Romans rarely or never used spurs and mainly steered and spurred their horses with snaffles and reins.
But the Romans were also the first to have dog brigades in the army. They used heavily armored fighting dogs, which were intended to instill fear in the enemy. These dogs received rigorous training as puppies and were very strong. The breed used for this was the mastiff. The current Mastino Napoleono appears to be a direct descendant of the Roman fighting dogs.
Through their encounters with the North African Carthaginians, they became acquainted with well-trained war elephants. First they themselves were attacked, when the Carthaginian Hannibal Barkas crossed the Alps with an immense army and some elephants. The Romans suffered heavy losses around the second century BC, but worked their way back up and brought about the fall of Carthage a little later. They took the elephants as loot and exhibited them in the Circus Maximus. The elephant will also hold a special position in the hearts of the Romans.
Entertainment
Here we come to the greatest animal atrocity in Roman history: the use of wild animals in amphitheatres. Wild animals were brought from all corners of the Roman-occupied areas, often in appalling conditions, to be used as deadly entertainment in the arenas. Many animals did not survive this journey and those that did often faced an even more gruesome fate.
They were trained hunters who took on the heavy logistics of capturing wild animals and often transporting them over long distances and at sea to Rome. Remember that at that time there were no trucks yet and that, for example, a journey with elephants at sea was a dangerous undertaking.
Animals were used for all kinds of entertainment. The most famous example is that prisoners, especially Christians, were thrown to the lions, but there were other forms of gruesome entertainment involving animals. There were gladiators, both men and women, who fought to the death with wild animals, which were also used against each other. The Romans wanted to know who was the strongest, so animals from different regions that could never meet in nature were often pitted against each other. For example, a lion and a tiger had to fight each other to the death.
Sometimes they were also released into the arena to be killed by hunters. Emperor Commodus in particular must have enjoyed shooting wild animals with his bow from the stands. When an emperor once slaughtered eighteen elephants, the cries of these animals were so overwhelming that the public was disgusted and since then these animals were never used to kill for entertainment, but were still trained to perform tricks. We will never know exactly how many animals died in this way in amphitheatres, but it could be millions.