Venatio

Venatio means ‘hunting’ in Latin, and the Hunts or ‘Venatio were held in the Roman Amphitheatre between wild animals and a type of Gladiator called the ‘Bestiari’.

The Venatio were held in the mornings, whereas the Gladiatorial Games were held in the afternoon.
The ‘Bestiari’ were armed men who fought with the wild animals in the Arena. Prisoners of war or criminals were often thrown to the beasts unarmed.
From 167 BCE onwards, fights with wild animals were shown every morning in Rome.
Some Games lasted for days, and involved the slaughter of tens of thousands of wild animals.
3,500 animals died in the Roman Circus during the Days of Festival under Reign of Augustus, many of which were Elephants.

Hippopotamus
- This animal was eliminated from the river Nile by the demand in the Amphitheatres.
North African Elephant
- This animal was hunted into extinction.
Lions, Tigers, Bears, Leopards, Crocodiles, and Boars.
Also Deer, Goats, Dogs and the Auroch.

However, Wolves were never displayed in the Venatio, because of their religious importance to Romans.
The annual Festival of Lupercalia was held on the 15th of February, to revere the Founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, who were reared by a she-wolf.