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The Tombstone of Laetus' Daughter: Cats in Gallo-Roman Sculpture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Catherine Johns
Catherine Johns
Affiliation:
London, N8 9RY, [email protected]
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Extract

Publications concerning the early worldwide history of the domestic cat (Felis catus, also known as Felis domesticus) normally concentrate on ancient Egypt. All the evidence now indicates that the domestic species evolved in Egypt, entirely or at least principally from the North African wildcat, F. silvestris libyca; one authority suggests that there was also some admixture of the Jungle Cat (F. chaus), another small, wild felid frequently shown in ancient Egyptian art. The role of the domestic cat in the Graeco-Roman world tends to be treated somewhat sketchily in general books, since the literary and archaeological evidence for the spread of domestic cats from Egypt in antiquity is very slight, but two important recent volumes have attempted to redress the balance by examining this scanty evidence in detail.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 34 , November 2003 , pp. 53 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © Catherine Johns 2003. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

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