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Washington, United States
loves: you win if you guessed "pets" and "museums". Also books, art history, travel, British punk, Korean kimchi, bindis, martinis, and other things TBD. I will always make it very clear if a post is sponsored in any way. Drop me a line at thepetmuseum AT gmail.com !

Saturday, November 24, 2007

roman dog names

The United Nations of Roma Victrix -- unrv.com -- is an exhaustive yet entertaining site on things Roman. I surfed on by to see if I could learn a bit about Roman war dogs, and stumbled instead upon a list of Roman dog names:

Ferox. male: "Savage".
Craugis. female: "Yapper".
Lachne. female: "Shaggy".
Scylax or Skylax. male: "Puppy".

A long list here.
Also, note was made of a little girl-dog mentioned by the poet Martial. Issa was her name, and her "daddy" loved her very much:
Issa is naughtier than Catullus' sparrow, Issa is purer than a dove's kiss, Issa
is more endearing than all the girls, Issa is dearer than Indian gemstones, Issa
is Publius' pet puppy. If she complains, you will think she is speaking; she
feels sorrow and joy. She lies up against his neck and takes her slumber, in
such a way that not one of her breaths is felt. And when she is forced by the
desire of her bladder, she has never disappoints the bedspread by a single drop,
but with caressing paw she rouses him and warns to put her down, and asks to be
lifted up. So great is the modesty within the chaste puppy that she knows not of
Venus; nor have we found a man worthy of such a tender girl. So that her final
day might not snatch her away completely, Publius is producing her likeness in a
painted board, in which you will see an Issa so like her that she herself is not
so like herself. So put Issa alongside the picture: either you will think both
are real, or you will think both are painted.

Found this at a brilliant blog on Martial's earthy poetry.

3 comments:

Ellie said...

"never disappoints the bedspread" Awesome.

parlance said...

thanks once again for a fascinating tidbit! You blog is always a good read.

Anonymous said...

Another Dog Names blog
Dog Names