Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

rENATIO. V ENATIO. 1187
first exhibited, according to Dion Cassius (li. 22), sufficient to give an idea of the numbers and
but the hippopotamos is spoken of by Pliny, as variety of aninals at these spectacles; but the
mentioned above, in the games given by Scaurus. list of beasts which were collected by thle younger
Augustus also exhibited a snake 50 cubits in Gordian for his triumph, and were exhibited by
length (Suet. Aug. 43), and thirty-six crocodiles, his successor Philip at the Secular Games, dewhich are seldom mentioned in the spectacles of serve mention on account of their variety and the
later times. (Dion Cass. Iv. 10.) rarity of some of them. Among these we find
The occasions on which Venationes were ex- mention of 32 elephants, 10 elks, 10 tigers (which
hihited have been incidentallyv mentioned above. seem to have been very seldom exhibited), 60
They seem to have been first confined to the Ludi tame lions, 30 tame leopards, IO hyaenas, an hipCircenses, but during the later times of the re- popotamos and rhinoceros, 10 archoleontes (it is
public, and under the empire, they were frequently unknown what they were), 10 camelopards, 20
exhibited on the celebration of triumphs, and on onagri (wild asses, or perhaps zebras), 40 wild
many other occasions, with the view of pleasing horses, and an immense number of similar animals.
the people. The passion for these shows continued (Vopisc. (Gordian, 33.)
to increase under the empire, and the number of How long these spectacles continued is uncerbeasts sometimes slaughtered seems almost incre- tain, but they were exhibited after the abolition
dible. At the consecration of the great anphitheatre of the shows of gladiators. There is a law of
of Titus, 5000 wild beasts and 4000 tame animals Honorius and Theodosius, providing for the safe
were killed (Suet. Tit. 7; Dion Cass. lvi. 25), convoy of beasts intended for the spectacles, and
and in the games celebrated by Trajan, after his inflicting a penalty of five pounds of gold upon any
victories over the Dacians, there are said to have one who injured themn. ( Cod. 11. tit. 44.) They
been as many as 11,000 animals slaughtered. were exhibited at this period at the praetorian
(Dion Cass. lxviii. 15.) Under the emperors we galnes, as we learn from Symmachus. (Epist. ix.
read of a particular kind of Venatio, in which the 70, 71, 126, &c.) Wild beasts continued to he
beasts were not killed by bestiarii, but were given exhibited in the games at Constantinople as late
up to the people, who were allowed to rush into as the time of Justinian. (Procop. t1ist. Arc. c. 9.)
the area of the circus and carry away what they Combats of wild beasts are sometimes reprepleased. On such occasions a number of large sented on the coins of Roman families, as onr the
trees, which had been torn up by the roots, was annexed coin of M. Livineius Reegrlus, which proplanted in the circus, which thus resembled a bably refers to the venatio of Julius Caesar menforest, and none of the more savage animals were tioned above.
admitted into it. A Venatio of this kind was
exhibited by the elder Gordian in his aedileship,
and a painting of the forest with the animals in it /_
is described by Julius Ca.pitolinus. (Gordian, 3.)
On:? of the most extraordilnary venationes of this
kind was that given by Probus, in which there i K
were 1000 ostriches, 1000 stags, 1000 boars- r o
1000 deer, and numbers of wild goats, wild sheep, EC
and other animals of the salie kind. (Vopise.
Probe 19.) The mote savt\ge animals were slain
by the bestiarii in the amphitheatre, and not in In the bas-reliefs on the tomb of Scaurus at
the circus. Thus, in the day succeeding the ve- Pompeii, there are representations of combats with
natio of Probus just mentioned, there were slain wild beasts, which are copied in the hollowing
in the amphitheatre 100 lions, and the same woodcuts from,Iazois (Pomsp. i. pl. 32, 33). On
number of lionesses, 100 Liby-an and 100 Syrian the same tomb gladiatorial conlbats are repreleopards, and 300 bears. (Vopisc. 1. c.) It is un- sented, which are figured on p. 576 of the present
necessary to multiply examples, as the above are work,
The first represents a man nake.d and unarmed defenceless stite uod df course oniy their aility to
between a- lion and a panther. Persons in this | trust to in order to escape from the beasts. In the
y_ 1
second cut we see a similar person against whom a the same relief there is a wolf running at full speed,
wild boar is rushing, and who appears to be pre- and also a stag with a rope tied to his horns who
paring for a spring to escape from the animal. In has been pulled down by two wolves or dogs. The
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