The North African ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus, Linnaeus 1758), once common in the western and northern parts of Africa, has now disappeared from many parts of its original distribution area. Although in this process of inexorable reduction of the African ostrich’s distribution area, the causes of the animal’s disappearance can certainly be attributed to the current human-environment interaction, the aim here is to examine whether it is actually possible to already attribute to the Romans some responsibility for this serious damage to the ecosystem. In order to answer this question, the main evidence on the knowledge that the ancients possessed of the animal is reviewed, first of all with regard to its name and morphology, distribution area, reproduction, diet and ethology, then with regard to the economic value attributed to the ostrich, and finally with regard to a last but no less important aspect, namely the use of these large animals for amphitheatre performances.
Lo struzzo nordafricano (Struthio camelus camelus, Linnaeus 1758), un tempo comune nella fascia occidentale e settentrionale dell’Africa, oggi è scomparso da molte zone del suo originario areale. Anche se in questo processo di inesorabile riduzione dell’areale di diffusione dello struzzo africano le cause della scomparsa dell’animale sono certamente da addebitarsi all’attuale interazione uomo-ambiente, in questa sede tuttavia si intende verificare se sia effettivamente possibile attribuire già ai Romani una parte di responsabilità per questo grave danno arrecato all’ecosistema. Per rispondere a questo quesito vengono passate in rassegna le principali testimonianze sulla conoscenza che dell’animale possedevano gli antichi, innanzitutto per quanto riguarda denominazione e morfologia, areale di distribuzione, riproduzione, alimentazione ed etologia, poi per quel che concerne il valore economico attribuito allo struzzo e infine per quanto attiene a un ultimo ma non meno importante aspetto, ossia la destinazione d’uso di questi grandi animali per gli spettacoli nell’anfiteatro.
Uova, piume, carne e spettacoli: sfruttamento “intensivo” dello struzzo nordafricano in età imperiale
Margherita Cassia
2024-01-01
Abstract
The North African ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus, Linnaeus 1758), once common in the western and northern parts of Africa, has now disappeared from many parts of its original distribution area. Although in this process of inexorable reduction of the African ostrich’s distribution area, the causes of the animal’s disappearance can certainly be attributed to the current human-environment interaction, the aim here is to examine whether it is actually possible to already attribute to the Romans some responsibility for this serious damage to the ecosystem. In order to answer this question, the main evidence on the knowledge that the ancients possessed of the animal is reviewed, first of all with regard to its name and morphology, distribution area, reproduction, diet and ethology, then with regard to the economic value attributed to the ostrich, and finally with regard to a last but no less important aspect, namely the use of these large animals for amphitheatre performances.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
