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[German version] A. Spread and popularity Cockfighting is attested from the 5th cent. BC to the Roman Imperial period (earliest evidence in Pind. Ol. 12,14, latest in Hdn. 3,10,3). It was especially popular with the Greeks [1. 117; 2. 82-92]: fighting cocks were considered an ideal example of the will to win (Ael. VH 2,28); it is in that light that they are depicted on the Panathenaean prize amphorae [3. 34] ( Panathenaean amphorae); in Aesch. Eum. 861 they symbolize martial anger (the cock as ‘the bi…

[German version] A. Greece For Greece, documentary evidence of betting (περίδοσις, perídosis) is very rare; modern research does not concern itself with betting within the Greek sphere. Mostly, the evidence consists of forms of affirmation with the aim of emphasizing the truthfulness of a statement, e.g. Hom. Od. 23,78: ‘I pledge my life on this’ (περιδιδόναι/ perididónai), ‘I'll wager my life’; similar in Aristoph. Ach. 772; 1115; Aristoph. Equ. 791; Aristoph. Nub. 644. There is only a single piece of evidence of a sporting bet (Hom. Il. 23,485: ‘I'll wager ( perididónai) you a tripo…

(παράδεισος/ parádeisos, ζωγρεῖον/ zōgreîon; Latin vivarium). [German version] I. Ancient Orient Zoos are known primarily from neo-Assyrian palace sites (11th-7th cents. BC), in the sense both of parks populated with animals of every kind and of enclosures in which game was kept (Paradeisos). Reliefs of hunting lions, wild asses etc. are known from the palace of Assurbanipal in Nineveh with representations of cages/enclosures; there are written records of lion enclosures as early as the beginning of the 2n…