Does anyone wanna hear me talk about the role of domestic pets in ancient Rome I know a lot

I'm just gonna go ahead and talk to myself and if anyone is interested they can learn :)

So we learn a lot about ancient pets from children's grave burials (romans usually cremated but buried children) because child mortality rate was high, and pets were ofren gifts or playthings for kids. Kids usually had pet doves (which were bred for food) and sometimes rabbits

Dogs were usually bred for services but there was a "toy" breed of terrier that would have looked like a white Pomeranian, (Called a melitan or Maltese terrier) was kept as a lap dog for wealthy women and children. It was originally bred to alleviate menstrual cramps by cuddling

These dogs were super common and often found in burials, on grave steles, and funerary art. I read an archaeological report on a child burial in Roman-occupied Carthage (Tunisia) that contained the bones of an elderly disabled terrier that wouldve required assistance to eat

This tells us that the dog was kept alive even when it was completely dependent, and then burried with its owner. This means the dog had a certain level of value we don't see with most domesticated animals in antiquity

This stele honours someone named Hellena, a "foster child" with a beautiful and incomparable soul. It's unclear if Hellena was adopted child who owned a dog, or if the dog itself was named Hellena, and considered to be a foster child to her owner.

MOVING ON FROM DOGS
The Romans didn't have many cats until the later empire, bc Egypt literally hoarded cats and sent ambassadors to Italy to repatriate any cats that have escaped Egypt. Cats were eventually temple animals in Rome, especially for Diana and Libertas

The Romans used weasels and snakes to catch mice. Snakes had a sacred cthonic association in Greece that carries over into Roman culture too. Large pet snakes were called dracones. emperor Nero was said to hand-feed his pet snake, and let it chill on the dinner table w his guests

Fish were also really cool! Romans kept ponds for fish, not only to eat, but rich Roman kept fancy ponds with eels and used them as a symbol for wealth

Can't talk about anything without giving a Cicero opinion. He thought that people who kept fish ponds were like too snooty and didn't pay attention to real matters, and he used the term "keepers of fish ponds" as a derogatory insult