View source for Venatio

{{Short description|Type of entertainment in Ancient Rome involving the hunting and killing of wild animals}}
[[Image:Gladiator Bronzemedaillon.jpg|thumb|Bronze medallion
depicting the fight between a man and a wild animal (''venatio'').]]
{{wiktionary|venatio}}

'''Venatio''' ({{langx|la|venatio}}, "hunting", plural ''venationes'') was a type of entertainment in [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[amphitheater]]s involving the hunting and killing of [[wild animal]]s.

==History==
Venatio was first introduced by [[Marcus Fulvius Nobilior (consul 189 BC)|Marcus Fulvius Nobilior]], who celebrated his Greek campaign by hosting games where gladiators would fight lions and panthers.

Exotic wild beasts from the far reaches of the [[Roman Empire]] were brought to Rome and hunts were held in the morning prior to the afternoon main event of [[gladiator]]ial duels. The hunts were held in the [[Roman Forum]], the [[Saepta]], and in the [[Circus Maximus]], though none of these venues offered protection to the crowd from the wild animals on display.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} Special precautions were taken to prevent the animals from escaping these venues, such as the erection of barriers and the digging of ditches. Very few animals survived these hunts though they did sometimes defeat the "[[bestiarii|bestiarius]]", or hunter of wild beast. Thousands of wild animals would be slaughtered in one day. During the [[Inaugural games of the Flavian Amphitheatre]] (80), about 9,000 animals were killed.<ref>pg 105 of ''The Gladiator'', by Alan Baker, Ebury Press {{ISBN|0-09-188654-6}}</ref>
[[File:Barbary_Lion_in_colosseum_of_Rome.jpg|thumb|Venatio, Gladiator and Lion in the Colosseum]]

Not all the animals were ferocious, though most were. Animals that appeared in the venatio included [[lion]]s, [[elephant]]s, [[Eurasian_Brown_Bear|bear]]s, [[tiger]]s,<ref>Auguet, Roland (1994). Cruelty and civilization: the Roman games. Psychology Press. pp. 83–85. {{ISBN|978-0-415-10453-1}}.</ref> [[deer]], [[cow]]s, [[wolverine]]s, [[zebra]]s, [[ostrich]]es, [[vulture]]s, [[weasel]]s, [[polecat]]s, [[mink]]s, [[giraffe]]s, [[eagle]]s, wild [[goat]]s, [[parrot]]s, [[dog]]s, [[camel]]s, [[monkey]]s, [[Wolf|wolves]], [[jackal]]s, [[fox]]es, [[Leopard|leopards]], [[crocodile]]s, [[Wild boar|boars]], [[hippo]]s,<ref>Christesen, Paul;Kyle, Donald G.. (2013). ''Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity, A''. Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved 5 December 2017, from http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=543132 </ref> and [[rabbit]]s.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news | newspaper=[[The Guardian]] | title=Scars from lion bite suggest headless Romans found in York were gladiators | url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jun/07/york-gladiator-graveyard | author=Martin Wainwright | date=7 June 2010}}</ref> Some of these animals were trained, and instead of fighting, performed tricks.

The treatment given to wolves differed from the treatment meted out to other large predators. The Romans generally seem to have refrained from intentionally harming wolves. For instance, they were not displayed in the venationes due to [[Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology|their religious importance to the Romans]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.academia.edu/23717733|title= Was There a Taboo on Killing Wolves in Rome?|work= Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica|publisher= Fabrizio Serra Editore|access-date= 2016-03-28|author= Mika Rissanen }}</ref>

Revered for its ferocity, the lion was extremely popular in venationes and gladiatorial shows. Thus the dictator [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] used 400 lions (imported primarily from [[North Africa]] and [[Syria (region)|Syria]]) in the Circus, where the inclusion of the foreign animal lent his shows extra panache. Indeed, obtaining the animals from the far-flung corners of the empire was an ostentatious display of wealth and power by the emperor or other patron to the populace, and was also meant to demonstrate Roman power of the whole human and animal world and to show the [[plebs]] of Rome exotic animals they might never see otherwise.

During the reign of [[Augustus Caesar]], the circus games resulted in the death of 3,500 [[North African elephant|elephants]].<ref name="Woolf2007">{{cite book|author=Greg Woolf|title=Ancient civilizations: the illustrated guide to belief, mythology, and art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94NuSg3tlsgC&q=3%2C500+elephants|year=2007|publisher=Barnes & Noble|isbn=978-1-4351-0121-0|page=397}}</ref>

==Executions==
{{further|ad bestias}}
Following the venatio in the order of daily events was the [[Capital punishment#Ancient Rome|execution]] of convicted [[Roman citizen]]s of lower status, the ''humiliores''. Usual forms of execution included [[execution by burning|burning at the stake]], [[crucifixion]], or ''[[ad bestias]]'' (when the prisoner is left alone in the ring with one or more wild animals).

Roman emperors often sentenced serious criminals — who then became known as ''[[bestiarii]]'' — to fatal encounters with the beasts in the [[Colosseum]] — an ancient "death sentence".<ref>[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/bestiarii.html The Bestiarius and the Ludus Matutinus]</ref> These were the lowest [[social class]] of participants in the games.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Ad Bestias | access-date = 2009-03-26 | url = http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/bestias.html }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Atlas bear]]
*[[Barbary lion]]
*[[Blood sport]]
*[[Spectacles in ancient Rome]]
*[[Colchester Vase]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Hunting topics}}

[[Category:Sport in ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Hunting]]
[[Category:Obsolete blood sports]]
[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]