Post on 13-Dec-2015
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Piazza Armerina
Magistriprocurator ad elephantosVenatores immunes UrsariiVivarium/vivaria
Syrian GoddessSol Invictus
Zoo traditions in the ancient world
- Assyrians- Pharaohs- Ptolemies- Rome
- Elites and emperors- Syrian Goddess- Sol Invictus
Antonius Proculus to Valerianus. Write the note to say that from the month of Agrippina until now we have been hunting every species of wild animals and birds for a year under the orders of the prefects. We have given what we caught to Cerealis and he sent them and all the equipment to you...
Papyrus from Egypt (late 1st/early 2nd century CE)
Vivaria in and near Rome
Porta Maggiore (Porta Praenestina)Porta Labicana (?)Elephants: Ardea and Laurentum
Trailblazers in Rome M. Curius Dentatus: elephants (275)Pompey the Great: elephants in harness (80, 81, or 79 BCE)
rhino (the elephant’s deadly enemy!)Julius Caesar: giraffes;
elephants carrying torches in triumph (46 BCE)Mark Antony: lions in harness (46 BCE)Emperor Tiberius: elephants on tightropesGermanicus: dining and dancing elephants (12 CE)Septimius Severus: zebras