Giraffe anyone?

[guy]

The scientists found the remains of a giraffe and sea urchin in the drain of a onetime restaurant [in Pompeii], LiveScience reports.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/01/05/newser-ancient-romans-giraffe/4327395/

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/how-did-people-in-ancient-pompeii-end-up-eating-giraffes/282795/

 

Since 2005, in a long-ignored area inside the Porta Stabia, one of Pompeii's busiest gates, a team of archaeologists has been examining evidence of the city as it once was

Edited January 6, 2014 by guy

[Onasander]

University of Cincinnati? 

 

Italy actually lets people from Cincinnati dig in Pompeii of all places? I Dunno about this. 

 

 

[caldrail]

It is believed that meat from animals slain in the arena were distributed to the poor as part of the civic largesse ( also to avoid the need for huge burials and secure votes for the games editor).

[Onasander]

How many animals were slained in Pompeii arena to feed the poor?

 

The place was practically a resort town. I know they found evidence of gladiators there, but really, how big could the poor population be there? And were the poor 'really poor'? Seems like its perfect terrain for year round foraging expeditions by the ladies.

 

Not discounting the idea, just putting the norm under special clarification given location and low population in relation to wealth and foraging capacity of the outlying lands.

 

Seems the one spot to me to go if you were skin and bones, you could fatten up quick off the land without begging.

[caldrail]

Animals weren't slain to feed the poor - they were put into the arena either to be hunted ritually (or more to the point, for entertainment), as bestial galdiators, or as a means demonstrating justice to those unfortunate comdemned individuals tied to a post in front of it.

 

The arena at Pompeii was a popular venue -0 it was after all a purpose built amphitheatre which survives to this day (albeit after being buried), and was once the scene of crowd violence as Pompeians fought audience members from a nearby town, prompting Nero to ban Pompeii from holding fixtures there for ten years.

 

The extent of poverty isn't really the issue either because the act of goiving meat would be a matter of securing votes (the Romans were absolutely shameless in their political graft) thus anyone in the audience could rasonably expect to partake of what was available, with the proviso that they would suffer negative reaction if they were known to be able to afford food without worry. Bear in mind there was no fee or ticket price for watching the games - it was all civic largesse. Also bear in mind that the Romans often expected the wealthy to pay for their entertainment and welfare - that's one reason why Romans rushed to visit their patron of a morning, and in an unrelated incident, Tiberius once had to order troops into a town because the ciorpse of a dead centurion was being held for ransom until the family paid for a munera to celebrate his death.

 

There are reasons to debate the issue of poverty in Pompeii -one tlelevision archaeologist has pointed at the obvious prosperity (allowing for the natural disasters that afflicted the place between 69 and 79ad). Nonetheless, the poor were allowed a grain dole if they had an adress to live at - a subsistemnce ration to prevent them from starving, and we know that urban populations were not absolutely secure regarding provisions - food riots were not unknown in ROman times.

 

Pompeii has a geographical adavntage and clearly prospered from the availability of produce, both of land and sea, yet there must have been those whose incomes or career prospects made a gift of slaughtered meat very welcome (it would have have been a treat anyway), and of course the Roman public had come to expect such generosity.

 

In terms of numbers of animals slain the total would have been nothing like the city of Rome, but occaisionally a big cat or two, an elphant, or something similar to delight a rural town audience with something they wouldn't ordinarily see, both to be impressed with displays of aggression, speed, grace, or simply because the animal was exotic, and also the display Roman mastery of nature.

[Onasander]

A treat and bribe.... I can accept that.

 

I never was big on pompeii gluttony, I know the satyricon was a farce, but there is archeology to support the ideas of culture represented in the text could occur there well within reason.

 

None the less, I think the need for it was much less than other parts of italy. Just not that crucial live or die need for meats provided. How large could the non-slave lower classes be? Its like Marin County, California.