ABSTRACT
In the Roman Empire, humans exploited animals on their farms, hunted them in the wilderness and at sea, trained and tamed them, used them to transport people and goods, utilized them in magic and medicine, kept them as pets, cheered them on the racetrack, killed them in the arenas, and sacrificed them to the gods. Generally speaking, the type of society contributes to determining conceptions of animals – an agricultural society will have other perspectives than a society of hunters and gatherers, an industrial society or a late modern society. Conceptions of animals in the Roman Empire were among other things influenced by these societies being agricultural and dependent on organic power and the productivity of animal muscles.
