According to new archaeological evidence, the most elite Roman military soldiers stationed at the Egyptian port of Berenike found all sorts of innovative ways to show off their status, like carrying around pet monkeys imported from India that were latched to them like a chihuahua is to Paris Hilton.
A new archaeological study published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology documents the remains of about three dozen macaques buried in an animal cemetery at the Red Sea outpost, revealing a level of affection that was almost parental.
There is evidence of Barbary macaques amongst the archaeological findings at Roman sites around the world. But these Berenike monkeys were rhesus and bonnet macaques, species native to southern India and the Indus Valley. All that to say that Roman officers reached well beyond the fringes of the empire to get them. It’s an ancient example of the lengths people will go to rub their social status in your face.
The ornate burials suggest that these animals were treated like members of the family. One early first-century macaque was laid to rest with a piglet companion, two large seashells, a woven basket, and a folded cloth that the researchers say was “reminiscent of a rag doll.” Why is this seemingly random assortment of stuff important? Because they don’t seem random to the researchers. They seem like they were the monkey’s personal belongings.
Another primate was buried with a puppy and a kitten, while another had a formal tomb marker similar to those used for humans. The researchers note that this kind of care fits with Roman thinkers like Pliny the Elder, who wrote that primates held a kind of “semi-human status,” which makes sense considering that, genetically, they are semi-human.
All that info is more than enough to give you the warm fuzzies. That feeling ends here, though, as the researchers found evidence of malnutrition amongst the monkeys. They suspect it wasn’t due to neglect or some kind of abuse, but rather a matter of resource management, or a lack thereof. It’s hard to feed an exotic pet 2,000 years ago in a desert port. The Roman soldiers probably barely had enough food and resources for themselves, let alone for their beloved monkey friends.
Apparently, the social payoff was worth it. In Berenike, owning one of these animals was an immediate signifier of status, worldliness, and access to distant trade routes. To paraphrase the authors of the study, someone strolling around with an Indian macaque on a leash was the Roman Empire’s equivalent of a modern rizzed-out guy strolling around with intense BDE.
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