Image Details

Erich Lessing

Wild animals—including ostriches, an antelope and a boar tied to a pole—are loaded onto a ship in a scene from the third- or fourth-century C.E. “Great Hunt” mosaic in the Piazza Armerina, in Sicily. The ancient Romans did not simply ship wine, garum and olive oil; exotic beasts from the farthest corners of the empire were transported to Rome to star in theater games.