10-12-2007, 06:21 PM
I have not read through all the posts on this line, so perhaps it has come up before... but at least some of the animals used in combat were doped.
Elephants in particular had a long history of being drugged in some way before battle. Asians especially, were given great quantities of alcohol and some narcotics to calm or inspire them before battle, depending on which they needed. Just like humans, elephants react differently to drugs and alcohol, some becoming belligerent and others docile in reaction.
Whether the Romans did this in the gladiator games is uncertain, but they did hire or use captured professional elephant riders, who would have known these tricks, and so it is likely they were likewise doped. Pompey the Great would have been wise to do so before the debacle of his first gladiator contest, when the elephants panic and implored the crowd for help while being slaughtered. Pompey was berated by the angry crowd for his cruelty to the poor animals. Perhaps that was rightly deserved, but had the elephants been drugged they would not likely have panicked in that dramatic way.
John K
Elephants in particular had a long history of being drugged in some way before battle. Asians especially, were given great quantities of alcohol and some narcotics to calm or inspire them before battle, depending on which they needed. Just like humans, elephants react differently to drugs and alcohol, some becoming belligerent and others docile in reaction.
Whether the Romans did this in the gladiator games is uncertain, but they did hire or use captured professional elephant riders, who would have known these tricks, and so it is likely they were likewise doped. Pompey the Great would have been wise to do so before the debacle of his first gladiator contest, when the elephants panic and implored the crowd for help while being slaughtered. Pompey was berated by the angry crowd for his cruelty to the poor animals. Perhaps that was rightly deserved, but had the elephants been drugged they would not likely have panicked in that dramatic way.
John K
John Kistler
writer, businessman, elephant lover
writer, businessman, elephant lover
