The Roman Empire was a powerful and successful civilization that lasted for over 1,000 years. During this time, Ancient Rome had various uses for animals including entertainment, sacrifice, and food. However, there were also some animals that Ancient Romans decided to keep as pets. These pets were sometimes very different from pets we keep today but some were held in high regard and deemed very important to their owners.
Caged Birds
Extravagance was an important part of life if you were wealthy in Ancient Rome. If you were an upper-class woman, you’d likely have a caged bird to show how successful and sophisticated you were. The rarer the bird, the higher value the pet would have with some wealthy Romans arranging for exotic birds to be captured and imported from other countries. If you had a bird that could talk, you would be seen as someone of great wealth. Birds like Parrots, Ravens, and Nightingales were popular as they could be trained to speak and perform whenever you needed to demonstrate how wealthy and important you were. Even the cages the birds were kept in were made from expensive materials such as silver and tortoiseshell.
Monkeys
Owning exotic animals and keeping them as pets was a way of life in Ancient Rome so it should be no surprise to learn that monkeys were kept as pets by many Romans. While we may not see it so positively today, having a monkey that you could make dance and perform would generate a very powerful and sophisticated image of the owner. There have been wall paintings showing small boys forcing monkeys to dance so it seems that wealthy families considered apes to be suitable pets for their young children.
Owning exotic animals and keeping them as pets was a way of life in Ancient Rome so it should be no surprise to learn that monkeys were kept as pets by many Romans. While we may not see it so positively today, having a monkey that you could make dance and perform would generate a very powerful and sophisticated image of the owner. There have been wall paintings showing small boys forcing monkeys to dance so it seems that wealthy families considered apes to be suitable pets for their young children.
Fish
Fish farms would’ve likely been found in Ancient Rome as a source of food. It also seems though, that some people kept fish as pets. This fits into the desire to be seen as wealthy as, to build a fish tank or even a fish pond - you would need space, money, and workers. Fish owners would also need the financial ability and resources to properly care for the fish so this made keeping fish as pets an even better way of showing off your wealth. Despite fish being a food source in Ancient Rome, it appears that any fish kept as pets were not eaten and were seen in a similar light to how we see our pets today. It’s even believed that some Ancient Romans actually mourned the death of their pet fish.
Exotic Animals
Exotic animals such as snakes and lions were also kept as pets by the richest people. Julius Caesar himself is said to have even owned a Giraffe as a pet at one point. Owning an exotic animal was seen as a great display of your success which is why there were many weird and wonderful animals living with humans throughout Ancient Rome.
Exotic animals such as snakes and lions were also kept as pets by the richest people. Julius Caesar himself is said to have even owned a Giraffe as a pet at one point. Owning an exotic animal was seen as a great display of your success which is why there were many weird and wonderful animals living with humans throughout Ancient Rome.
Cats and Dogs
It probably seems very odd to us that cats and dogs were not hugely popular as pets in Ancient Rome. While some wealthy families would own dogs, they were used more for practical purposes instead of being pets. During the Roman Empire, there was no real police force so people took the security of their property and possessions into their own hands and used dogs as a big deterrent to theft. Cats were not popular pets although they were widely used for pest control to keep rats and mice at bay throughout the city.
