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Animals had a variety of roles and functions in ancient Greece and Rome. Fish and birds were served as food. Species such as donkeys and horses served as work animals. The military used elephants. It was common to keep animals such as parrots, cats, or dogs as pets. Many animals held important places in the Graeco-Roman religion or culture. For example, owls symbolized wisdom and were associated with Athena. Humans would form close relationships with their animals in antiquity. Philosophers often debated about the nature of animals and humans. Many believed that the fundamental difference was that humans were capable of reason while animals were not. Philosophers such as Porphyry advocated for veganism. Marine life Fishing For the ancient Greeks and Romans fishing served as a source of income, food, and entertainment. Fishes such as tuna, sturgeons, mackerel, jellyfish, anchovies, lobsters, sprat, red mullet, oysters, mussels, sea urchins, salted fish, squid, and octopus were popular meals in ancient Greece or Rome. Octopuses were stored in pots and they would be given as a gift. Fish was also used to make a popular Roman condiment known as garum. Species such as Bluefin Tuna were expensive delicacies in ancient Greece. In ancient Rome, many fish species were delicacies. The poor had limited access to these fish. Fishes were also used to help guide seamen and as methods of foretelling the weather. Ancient fisherman used nets, short rods, traps, and lines with hooks. Roman fishing lines would often have an artificial fly attached to the end of the line. These flies were made of small feathers and were made to imitate the insects that landed on the surface of the water. The ancient Greek word griphos referred to a type of fishing basket. Poseidon, or Neptune in Roman mythology carried a trident that is used for spearfishing. People would hunt and trap tuna through seine fishing. Traps such as the almadraba might have been used in ancient Rome. Fisherman would sell their goods in the markets of Roman cities for profit. There were thriving fish markets across the Roman world.Polybius describes fishing techniques in his works. Boats would sail towards the fishing spot, with one sailor serving as a lookout. The lookout would signal to the other sailors when they had found fish. One sailor would row the boat towards the fish, while another man stood by ready to harpoon the fish. After the fish was stabbed the harpooner would pull the weapon out of the body leaving behind the barbed spear point inside of the fish. The fisherman attached a rope to the spear point, which they would then use to pull the fish towards them. Oppian, a Greek writer who wrote the Halieutica describes fishing in his work. He wrote that fisherman would use their oars to scare the fish into running into their nets made of buoyant flax which the fish thought was shelter. In ancient Athens a bell would announce the arrival of fishing boats. The ancient Greeks and Romans practiced whaling. They hunted both sperm and killer whales. Usually, they would whale by Corsica, Sardinia, and the Peloponnese. Ancient whaling was a dangerous practice and whalers used long lines with animals skins at the end to catch the whale and prevent themselves from being dragged under by it.Stories of fishermen and fishing appear throughout Ancient Greek literature. For example, in Sophron's The Fisherman and the Clown or the comedian Plato's Phaon. Roman and Greek writers were infatuated with the idea of a weather-beaten fisherman. Oppian depicted the fisherman as heroic. The Greeks and Romans practiced aquaculture and would create artificial bodies of water for fish. Sometimes they would keep fish as pets. Alcaeus, a Greek lyric poet wrote: The fisherman Diotimus had at sea And shore the same abode of poverty- His trusty boat-and when his days were spent, Therein self-rowed, to ruthless Dis he went: For which did through life his woes beguile, Supplied the old man with a funeral pile. Dolphins and whales Pliny the Elder described a story of a boy who befriended a dolphin by feeding him bread. The ancient Greeks had numerous stories of people being rescued by dolphins. Arion, a Greek musician, and Dionysus, a Greek god both had such stories told about them. The Romans called dolphins porcus piscus, which translates to pig-fish. During the reign of Septimius Severus, a whale was stranded on the Tiber River. The Romans built a model of this whale, which people would walk through. This site became a popular tourist attraction. People would watch animals such as lions walk through the model. Lobsters Although there are a wide variety of images of lobsters throughout ancient Greece or Rome, very few are anatomically accurate. The ancient Romans knew that lobsters had five arms and they had detailed information about their claws and other external features. Pliny considered them bloodless animals. The Romans also knew that lobsters live in rocky terrain, their reproductive habits, and their seasonal movements. Roman authors provide accounts of how lobsters interacted with octopuses, which are their predators. Fishermen used this information to catch the lobsters using lobster traps, which became a popular metaphor in Roman theatre. Lobsters were considered a prestigious food in ancient Rome and Greece and the wealthy would hunt them to gather them. Other species Seaweed was known as alga in ancient Rome and the Greeks knew it as phycos. In ancient Rome it was considered a medicine for gout and ankle swelling. Roman poet Virgil wrote, "nothing is more vile than seaweed." Juvenal, another Roman poet, once joked about "inspectors of seaweed," who waste time on trivial matters. The Romans would wrap the roots of their crops with seaweed to preserve the freshness and humidity of the seedlings. Red algae were also used as soil fertilizer in ancient Rome. Dioscorides described the usage of algae as medicine in De Materia Medica. Several species of venus clam, or as they were called in Greek, kheme. One species was the kheme trakheia or the glykymaris. They were known for their hard shells, taste similar to the sea, and high level of nutrition. The khemea leia, or the smooth clam was known for its smoothness and taste. Another species, known as peloris, is possibly named after Cape Peloris, which is where they were found. Saltfish were used in Roman medicine. They were believed to provoke the bowels and the appetite. It was considered difficult to digest, although nutritious. Xenocrates differentiates between a variety of kinds of saltfish. One kind had hard flesh, another kind had soft flesh, another kinds had flesh somewhere in between. Some saltfish were fleshy and others were fatty. The fat saltfish were capable of floating on their stomach. Birds Birds in ancient Rome and Greece were eaten as food. Flamingo tongues were highly valuable in ancient Rome. Emperors would collect them and serve them at feasts. The Hēliou Zōön, or "creat.... Discover the David Antram popular books. Find the top 100 most popular David Antram books.