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Ever since man befriended the wolf, dogs have been a very important partners and friends.
I know that Romans ( as did many ancient peoples) used dogs for hunting and perhaps in the arenas and I suspect they used them in war as portrayed in Gladiator. Is there any confirmation of this?
Dogs would be invaluable when used as they are today for guard work, sentry duty, prisoner escort etc.. Were they used this way do we know? Also, were dogs kept as pets or looked on merely as tools? If so what types of dogs did they have bearing in mind that most dogs breeds today have only been around since early Victorian times.
As always, any information is appreciated.
cheers,
Pict (Andy)
Andrew son of Andrew of the family Michie, of the clan Forbes highlanders to a man from our noble forebears the blue painted Pict, scourge of the legions.
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Dear Pict,
Please write your real (first) name in your signature. You can find it in your profile. It is a forum rule.
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Hmm i think i read somewhere that special hpunds were bred for battle. Big,heavyset,blood thirsty ones capable of taking a man down...generally charging in and messing up the formation i think.
Cant swear by it its all a bit vague but ill have a look around and see if i can dig anything up.
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TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
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Thank you all for the reponses.
The article Tarbicus posted is quite illuminating and actually runs contrary to what I expected to find.
I would have thought the legions would have used dogs, especially on picket duty or prisoner control. If I had been a trooper standing my watch at an overnight camp in the wilds of Caledonia or Germania I'd have welcomed even my 12 pound poodle for early warning radar as it were. Nobody could sneak up on her or likely her ancestors. I could even nod off a bit knowing the Centurio would never get near enough to me to slap me silly.
More interesting information.
Cheers,
Pict (Andy)
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Well, there are certainly dog remains found in many sites.
Certainly some along Hadrians wall too, IIRC
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Byron Angel
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As it just so happens, David Karunanithy, a very good researcher of Macedonian warfare (among other things), has written a book on the use of dogs in war from ancient to modern times:
http://yarakpublishing.com/index.php?op ... &Itemid=56
Additionally, I've recently been looking at Boeotian military lists from the 3rd c. BC, and some very detailed lists, that mention thureophoroi, peltophoroi, archers, and peltasts also mention kunagoi, or hound-leaders. I understand that this word ordinarily has a venatic meaning, but in these lists the use is clearly military. It seems likely that these dogs were used to patrol border regions or perhaps even in controlling matters of civil disturbance.
Ruben
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Thanks for all the information folks. As a long time dog lover and son of a former British army dog handler I've always been interested in this subject and just couldn't believe the Romans wouldn't have used war dogs.
Recentley I read a history of the Julian emperors(The Secret history of the Roman Emperors, Blond A.,Magpie Books, 1994) and in it the author mentions that British dogs were a highly prized trade commodity in Claudius' time.
This got me thinking and I came across an article on Pugnaces Britannie in Wikipedia. In the article the authors quote Gratius Falsius an historian in AD 8, "Although the British dogs are distinguished neither by colour nor good anatomy, I could not find any particular faults with them. When grim work must be done, when special pluck is needed when Mars summons us to battle most extreme, then the powerful Molossus will please you less and the Athamanen dog cannot measure up to the skill of the British dog either."
The authors go on to say these dogs were exported to Rome for use in the games and for use as war dogs.
How exactly they are used is not yet clear (to me) and I'd be interested in reading Mr. Karunanithy's book to see what he has to say.
Cheers all,
Pict
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That's correct Byron for there is the famous small dog statuette which is in Chesters museum on Hadrians' Wall, this is no more nor less than a Scottie type dog found at Coventina's Well at the next fort west Procolitia. There are those who believe that the Romans may well have used such dogs at all forts, small ones in particular to be able to get under the floors of granneries to keep the Rats down.
Brian Stobbs
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