Ancient mascots of an empire

 The 3 animals domesticated by the ancient Romans.

      When we think of the Roman Empire, we often think of major war scenes in Europe, in great naval battles in the Mediterranean, splendor and conquest, but above all, the most striking thing is Rome's relationship with animals.

From their founding myths with the luperca wolf to the bloody spectacles of the coliseum, they make it clear that animals were an exceptional part of Roman life, Among them we can even highlight 3 creatures that were domesticated by this people, thank you for reading, I hope you support us without further ado.

domestic dormice

 At some point there may have been a European version of the guinea pig, being the dormouse, this small rodent had a past with this town.

During the Roman era, dormice were domesticated and raised as a source of meat food, initially being considered poor people's food, but little by little it was appreciated by the higher classes, eventually becoming a widespread food in the Roman population, as the best example Italians prepared and raised their rodents by putting them in a special container called glirarium o vivarium in doliis, These being designed to be a short, regular, temporary home on the outside and looked like an artificial burrow on the inside, an Airbnb for rodents, where the animal could eat and then, the humans would cook the dormouse once they judged it to be at its fattest.

They were raised in the same way as the guinea pig, being free to roam around the houses or remaining in cages until they became fat enough, and then we know that they continued, These were known to be much larger and more substantial than their modern counterparts, and these were even used as vanity accessories, since heavy meats were a source of pride for rich Romans; The fatter your dormouse was, the more money you could spend on idle activities and the richer you were.

This practice persisted for much of the empire's existence and thousands of recipes were invented based on dormice, but it began to decline with the rise of Christianity, and although it was banned at some point, they continued to be raised clandestinely, surviving the fall of the Western Empire, until this domestic variety became extinct with the passage of time and their breeding and existence was forgotten.

Dormice are still consumed in Eastern Europe today, but they are usually wild dormouse which, according to them, are not as sweet and plump as the extinct domestic variety.

Domestication of the weasel

 Rome was not exempt from domesticating animals in an archaic way, as happened with dormice, they domesticated another animal for a different purpose.

The Romans before the cat was introduced into their society, to control rats, the Romans used another animal as an alternative, weasels.

According to records, weasels were raised in homes, farms, palaces, etc., being trained to hunt rodents and keep company, practice also taken up by the ancient Greeks, and according to Plutarch and Cicero, they refer to weasels as domestic pets in their writings, they were also thought to have anti-poison properties, Although weasel meat was not consumed, its brain and some parts were thought to have healing properties. so they were usually also sacrificed for this practice..

This practice persisted until the cat entered Roman society, replacing the mustelids in labor and causing the extinction of these domestic varieties of mustelids., It's a shame, it would have been interesting to have these animals with us currently as pets.

domestic genet

  In addition to culture, Rome left a strange legacy to Europe; in addition to the dormouse and the weasel, the Romans domesticated the genet.

These small animals were initially bred as pets because they were used by the Phoenicians, as pest controllers of ships and Romans, being kept in houses and farms as pets and controllers of rat pests, In the time of Augustus, a mysterious animal called ictis was introduced to the Balearic Islands to put an end to the plague of wild rabbits, which are believed to be genets, it is also known that the Egyptians and Arabs kept them as pets.

When cats began to be adopted in Rome as pets, the breeding of genets began to be abandoned, and they were released and escaped, In the end, they were left roaming free in the places where their former masters roamed, being common in the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and France, what a curiosity.

Anyway, this whole thing is curious, to see how in days gone by human beings welcomed other animals as part of their lives, making them a crucial element, but which nevertheless also ended up disappearing no matter what.

[Links de lectura]

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/dormouse-jars-glirarium-rome.amp

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_weasels

https://sierradebaza.org/fichas-tecnicas/fichas-de-fauna/fichas-mamiferos/ii-orden-carnivora/familia-viverridos/gineta-genetta-genetta