Q: You mentioned Pliny several times.  What did he actually say"?
 
A: He said "I've been Roman around the world for years, but all this
   Hellenistic stuff is Greek to me."
 
Pliny said a lot, but for our purposes only a few parts have importance.
This is one thing Pliny "actually said" regarding ferrets:
 
"There is also a species of hare, in Spain, which is called the rabbit;
it is extremely prolific, and produces famine in the Balearic islands, by
destroying the harvests.  The young ones, either when cut from out of the
body of the mother, or taken from the breast, without having the entrails
removed, are considered a most delicate food; they are then called
laurices.  It is a well-known fact, that the inhabitants of the Balearic
islands begged of the late Emperor Augustus the aid of a number of
soldiers, to prevent the too rapid increase of these animals.  The ferret
is greatly esteemed for its skill in catching them.  It is thrown into
the burrows, with their numerous outlets, which the rabbits form, and
from which circumstance they derive their name, and as it drives them
out, they are taken above."  Pliny: Book VIII: The Nature Of The
Terrestrial Animals, Chapter 81(55): The Different Species Of Hares.
 
Two things are readily apparent: first, Pliny's description shows not
only have ferrets have been domesticated, but that a "ferreting
technology" has been developed -- the description of ferreting is
essentially unchanged from Pliny until today.  The implication is that
ferrets are NOT BEING domesticated, but they are ALREADY domesticated.
The other observation is that Pliny doesn't say ferrets were used in the
Balearic Islands at allhe simply says the inhabitants asked Augustus for
SOLDIERS to control the rabbit.  He may have been discussing the use of
ferrets on the Balearic Islands, or it could just be that Pliny mentioned
ferrets as a side comment not directly related to the discussion, in a
"They had problems with rabbits, so asked for Roman soldiers to help, and
by-the-way, ferrets are useful to hunt rabbits sort of comment.
 
However, there is a third possibility: the request for soldiers was
BECAUSE the soldiers themselves were owners of ferrets.  Let me discuss
this idea at a bit greater length.
 
The Pliny reference has much more value when considered for its
implications than for what it actually says.  If ferrets were common at
the time, why would the Balearic inhabitants request help?  If ferrets
were in Morocco or on the Iberian Peninsula, why send a request all the
way to Rome and ask Caesar Augustus for help?  Would the major of San
Francisco send a message to Washington to ask for federal troops to
combat an invasion of bunny rabbits?  Recall the request was for
soldiers, not for ferrets.  Why ask for soldiers?  I cannot imagine how
a hundred Roman solders can kill rabbits more effectively than, say a
hundred farmers.  I have a copy of a painting of German Texan farmers
arraigned in a long line, each one holding a stick.  As they drive
forward, they beat the ground to drive rabbits and hares into the open
for easy killing, also done with sticks.  The only technology being used
is a stick, and the method is a tried and true one.  How would a soldier
be a significant improvement in the ridding of rabbits?  Rabbits are not
that hard to kill; you don't need spears or arrows or swords; all you
need is a stick.  Soldiers could be used to dug up the rabbit burys, but
so could farmers, and at considerable less expense.  So, again, why ask
for soldiers?
 
I think the answer is how soldiers cared for themselves.  Historically,
soldiers tended to live off the land, which is why using the burned-field
(scorched earth) strategy is so effective against invaders.  Even during
the American Civil War, soldiers routinely supplemented field rations
with local foods, including the capture of local domestic stock and the
hunting of wild animals.  I have several documents that suggest Union
soldiers were using ferrets during the Civil War to add rabbits to the
pot.  I have a magazine article that discusses the use of ferrets to rid
a prisoner of war camp of more than 16,000 rats in a three-month period.
Coincidentally (?), at the same time, several states were passing their
first anti-ferreting game laws in an attempt to prevent the deprivation
imagined by ferreting.  Soldiers have been subsisting off the landscape
for thousands of years, and it is inconceivable the Romans would be
different.  There is a possibility the reason Roman soldiers were
requested was not because of their military experience or hardware, but
because of their experience and proficiency at rabbiting with ferrets.
 
Would the Romans have had ferrets?  Pliny and Strabo indicate they were
at least known to the Romans.  However, I think it goes deeper than that.
If the Greeks were somehow involved with the domestication of the ferret,
the comments would make perfect sense because the Greeks had colonies in
present-day Italy.  It is possible they took ferrets to the colonies, so
ferrets could have been on the mainland of Italy when Roman civilization
was rising.  Or, perhaps the ferret passed through Greek hands to the
Phoenicians, and the Romans either took ferrets in trade or as spoils of
war.  Phoenician involvement could help explain the reference to "Libyan
ferrets."
 
These are just musings, but they would go a long way to explain why Roman
soldiers were requested.  However, there is no proof to support these
ramblings.  Nonetheless, it is not a muse to realize that the islanders
did not have ferrets, ferrets were not nearby, and to get help they had
to send a message across the Mediterranean, all the way to Rome.  I find
that remarkable; all I have to do now is figure out why.
 
Bob C  [log in to unmask]
 
"The cat staff of the Consolidated Stock Exchange is falling down on the
job.  Members shaking their heads gravely at evidences of inefficiency
are thinking of employing ferrets."  -- Anonymous.  1924 New York Times.
[Posted in FML issue 4781]