Dogs, Death and the Damned: The Role of Canines as Guardians of the Dead in the Ancient Roman World

Recent years have seen a growing interest in the relationships between humans and animals in antiquity, with ancient dogs continuing to be an area of scholarly pursuit. However, past research is particularly concerned with their hunting, war and companionship capabilities. This seminar aims to address a relative gap in this scholarship and to shed fresh light on the significance of canines to Roman death and funerary beliefs. Through the analysis of both literary and material evidence, the symbolic associations of canines pertaining to death, protection and the underworld are explored in order to highlight their significance as literal and symbolic guardians in Roman culture. For example, canine motifs on tombstones and Cerberus iconography are examined alongside the writings of Pliny, Plutarch, Seneca and Varro, offering a more holistic, cross-evidentiary analysis. By considering this body of evidence in a new way that reflects a different type of the human-dog relationship, which has been largely undervalued in previous scholarship, a more comprehensive understanding of canine’s importance in the ancient world can be fostered in a way that also comments on its connection to modern movements advocating animal rights.

Image credit: Bergama museum Cerberus 017.jpg by Dosseman