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Ancient and modern

Elephants are special – the Romans knew it too

Pliny on the animal ‘closest to man in disposition’

7 May 2016

9:00 AM

7 May 2016

9:00 AM

In order to deter poachers, hundreds of tons of elephants’ tusks are being incinerated in Kenya. But even for Romans, elephants were special: of all the animals cruelly slaughtered in the Roman arena, it was only the elephants that, on one occasion, moved the crowd to pity when they were put up against 20 armed gladiators.

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