BY SABRINA BONG
The Torch
Winter Edition
Would my dog get adopted in Ancient Rome ? A textual analysis .
BY SABRINA BONG
TREASURER
" There on the left as one entered ... was a huge dog with a chain round its neck . It was painted on the wall and over it , in big capitals , was written : Beware of the Dog ." -Petronius , Satyricon ( XXIX )
Mosaic depicting a sitting dog , Ptolemaic Period , 2nd century BCE , Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum
Breeds
Laconian ( Spartan ) and Molossian Both native to Greece Used for hunting and livestock protection " the shepherd ' s dangerous friends " ( Epodes , VI ). — Horace
“ The dog alone knows his master , and he alone recognizes his own name . He alone , too , in his master ’ s defense , will lay down his life ; and , let his master die , he will remain on the watch by the body .” -- Pliny the Elder , Naturalis Historia , Bk 8 , Ch 61 . Numerous frescos , mosaics , statues , and writings outline the Romans ’ close bond with dogs . Lap dogs were a sign of status and luxury for wealthy Roman women .
1,800 year old remains of a chihuahua-like dog were recently discovered at an archeological site in Oxfordshire , where a wealthy Roman villa once stood . As the dog had bowed legs and measured to be only 20- cm tall , zooarchaeologists concluded that some wealthier Romans most likely raised smaller , lap dogs in addition to hunting dogs .
Fresco of dog , Pompeii of an intact Thermopolium in Regio V . 1st c . CE
7