{"id":3238,"date":"2020-10-26T07:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T07:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colosseum.info\/?p=3238"},"modified":"2020-10-26T07:32:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T07:32:30","slug":"venationes-animal-hunts-at-the-colosseum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colosseum.info\/de\/venationes-animal-hunts-at-the-colosseum\/","title":{"rendered":"Venationes \u2013 Animal Hunts at the Colosseum"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the spectacles at the games in the Colosseum in Rome was the <\/span>Venationes<\/span><\/i> or animal hunts.\u00a0 Flashes from movies come to mind with men in armour on a sandy arena being mauled by tigers.\u00a0 Was it really like that, just a display of brutality and slaughter \u2013 man vs animal?\u00a0 The Roman games were an integral part of Roman society and by the end of the 1<\/span>st<\/span> century, generals and statesmen were already displaying weird and wonderful creatures like elephants, giraffes even rhinoceros to show their power over the known world. \u00a0 Along with executions and gladiatorial combat the animal hunts were a part of the games that had become commonplace, although not as frequent as we may imagine!\u00a0 By the 4<\/span>th<\/span> century AD, the festival calendar had 176 days of games per year, but only 10 of those were venationes and gladiator hunts at the Colosseum.\u00a0 These extravagant displays were far less frequent than we imagine – it could take up to two years to arrange and transport enough animal just for 5 days of games.\u00a0 For those organising and paying for these animal hunts they were incredibly expensive and a logistical nightmare to arrange. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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A Stage show<\/b><\/p>\n

Forget the film Gladiator or the glitzy series Spartacus. The hunters or <\/span>venator<\/i><\/b> were not gladiators, there was no heavy armour or swords.\u00a0 The Venators were trained animal handlers without armour – graffiti from the colosseum shows us men in loincloths with spears, sometimes on horseback with bows and arrows.\u00a0 As with the gladiator bouts the crowd was focused on the style, bravery and skill of the hunter \u2013 much like those who watch <\/span>bullfighting<\/b> concentrate on the poise and concentration of the matador. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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