The burning pigs are actually a point of debate amongst historians. Pliny the Elder made mention of their ability to frighten elephants with the smallest squeal when writing about how the Carthaginians tamed them. War dogs have been employed in warfare since prehistory, and are even still used today in certain operations...Burning pigs? Roman ninja-priests? Gladiators as regular units on the battlefields? Screaming women who scare the enemy? War-dogs? What?
Kaiserin said:War dogs have been employed in warfare since prehistory, and are even still used today in certain operations...
kris said:Kaiserin said:War dogs have been employed in warfare since prehistory, and are even still used today in certain operations...
war dogs was not employed by any of the Roman generals in any of their accounts. they did record their armies quite thougroughly too. I can't tell for other historic periods, but for the fact I never read about a battle were they used "war" dogs... ever.
"... able dogs in battle previously known to the Romans were the Molossian dogs of Epirus, which, in their native country, Greece, were specifically trained for battle by the military. ..."
~Gratius FalsiusAlthough the British dogs are distinguished neither by colour nor good anatomy, I could not find any particular faults with them. When grim work must be done, when special pluck is needed when Mars summons us to battle most extreme, then the powerful Molossus will please you less and the Athamanen dog cannot measure up to the skill of the British dog either.
http://www.uoregon.edu/~mharrsch/2003_1 ... 4885664246#106685384885664246"The Roman empire became a melting pot of dogs from all its conquests. As in ancient Egypt, Roman dogs served in a variety of roles, from companions and guard dogs to vicious fighting dogs pitted against slaves and wild animals.
The proverbial “dogs of war” were also Roman. Huge and fearsome Molossians, which resembled giant Rottweilers, were sent into battle to kill and dismember the enemy.
Mollosian, now extinct, originally came from Greece, where they were also used for fighting. Alexander the Great owned a Mollosian named Peritas who, legend has it, killed a lion and an elephant in fighting matches.
Roman citizens sometimes had Mollosian guard dogs. In Pompeii, archaeologists have found mosaics depicting Mollosians outside people’s homes with the message cave canem – “beware of the dog”."
Kaiserin said:snip
kris said:Kaiserin said:snip
I read what someone studying Roman warfare said.
I read about many a battle and never heard anything about dogs.
that is what I am saying. I am still kind of sceptic about their use.
Fez said:http://www.american-bulldog.com/molossus_myth.htm
These things, accordingly, are exported from the island, as also hides, and slaves, and dogs that are by nature suited to the purposes of the chase; the Celti, however, use both these and the native dogs for the purposes of war too. The men of Britain are taller than the Celti, and not so yellow-haired, although their bodies are of looser build. The following is an indication of their size: I myself, in Rome, saw mere lads towering as much as half a foot above the tallest people in the city, although they were bandy-legged and presented no fair lines anywhere else in their figure. - Strabo, Geography, Book IV, Chapter 5, paragraph 2
Fez said:"A dog may or may not have been used" isn't the most concrete or useful of statements though if that is all you can be sure of.