Posted on 09/25/2026 9:05:17 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
According to the message of Titus Calpurnius Siculus, a Roman poet from the 3rd century CE, in ancient Rome, in the arenas of amphitheatres, bears were supposed to appear hunting for seals. The writer specifically mentions here an event during the reign of Emperor Nero (54-68 CE).
The author does not specifically mention a polar bear or a bear living in a cold climate. As we know, however, only polar bears hunt seals. If this was true, it would confirm how far the Roman merchants could reach or how far they cooperated. Finally, let us not forget that the Romans had commercial cooperation with China, India and African peoples. On the other hand, bringing a large carnivore from northern Norway or Siberia to Italy, even alive, may seem, for those times, an almost impossible task.
Sources
Calpurnius Siculus, Eclogues, VII.65-6
(This post is also available in: Polish (polski))
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Polar bears were likely used in Roman Empire arena spectacles, most notably during the reign of Emperor Nero (54–68 CE), where they were pitted against seals in flooded amphitheaters. This event is documented in the Eclogues of the poet Calpurnius Siculus, who described seeing "sea calves" and "bears" fighting, leading historians to conclude the bears were polar bears given their seal-hunting diet.
Logistics: While transporting such animals from the Arctic was difficult, evidence suggests a Roman wildlife trade network extended into Scandinavia and the Arctic, potentially sourcing polar bears through northern intermediaries.
Other Bear Uses: Beyond the polar bear spectacle, brown bears (including European grizzlies) were commonly used in gladiatorial games, often fighting bulls, lions, or rhinos, with archaeological evidence like bear skulls confirming their use in combat.
Bear Games: Romans also played a popular asymmetric board game called the Bear Game (or Bear Hunt), where one player controlled a bear and the other three hunters, a game with roots in Roman antiquity that is still played in parts of Italy and France.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.roman empire games polar bears [Brave search results]
Polar bears from the Arctic. Tigers from India. Giraffes from the Serengeti. The Romans brought animals thousands of miles for the beast hunts and shows staged in the Colosseum. | How did the Romans Capture Animals for the Colosseum? | August 16, 2019 | toldinstone
At least they didn’t have Chicago Bears.
I wonder if Pope Leo X felt slighted that the best he could have was a zoo for his exotic animals?
The Tale of Auðun of the West Fjords) is a short tale (or þáttr) preserved in three distinct versions as part of the saga of Harald III of Norway (reigned 1047-1066, a.k.a. Haraldr inn harðráði Sigurðsson), as the saga is told in the manuscripts Morkinskinna, Flateyjarbók, and several others. Widely translated and anthologised, it is admired for its beautifully simple account[1] of a poor Icelander from the Westfjords, the harshest region of the country, who decides to take a polar bear as a present to Sweyn II of Denmark (reigned 1047-74/76, a.k.a. Sveinn Úlfsson). Despite having to navigate the court of Haraldr, Sweyn’s rival, Auðun persists in his mission and later embarks on a pilgrimage to Rome. Auðun's mixture of determination, audacity and humility leads him to gain the respect of both kings, and through him their respect for one another increases also.
Although ostensibly historical, the work is more plausibly to be seen as "a historified folktale".[2]
**Bring back the letters þ and ð! (th sounds!) Save pixels and ink!!
soon neither will Chicago
So tired of this CE. It's AD.
I first noticed the use of CE in the late 1980s, in academic papers. (Long before Muslims had any influence in America.)
That the Romans would have imported polar bears from Norway, or ...
... that Titus Calpurnius Siculus would see a white bear with his own eyes, then later write of the experience but fail to mention they were white?
If you can concede it's pretty unlikely that Calpurnius would have omitted that detail, then that opens the possibility that the Romans might have bought some Indian sun bears (which are considered more dangerous than the Eurasian brown bear) along with their Bengal tigers.
Bears in general are omnivores (emphasis on the "omni"). And even though seals are not the sun bear's natural prey , if you didn't feed them for a week, I'd say they might be inclined to nosh on the odd seal or two.
But that begs the question, how did the Romans manage to select seals for the black sun bears' opponents, when they only are the natural prey of the white bears?
Get any bear hungry enough and they will see seals as a meal. Until further proof, the Romans did not have polar bears.
If Pepsi can use polar bears in their advertising (a direct shot at Coke), I don’t know when the Romans can’t use them.
The way things are going there, the Roman Empire may still have a shot.
Unknown Norwegian: “Dang. The Romans will gives us gold for polar bears. We get fewer polar bears and Roman gold to boot. Dumb@$$ Romans. Get the cage ready.”
Maybw they got annoyed by the seals’ barking.
Snip..."Mediterranean monk seals are in danger of extinction, but there are some encouraging signs: conservation efforts and coordination among countries are improving, some populations are increasing in size, previously undocumented breeding areas have been discovered, and monk seals are beginning to appear in habitats and places where they had not been seen for decades. In the last several years, small numbers monk seals have been seen in Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy, Sardinia, Syria, Spain, and Libya, and breeding has been documented in some of these countries. In light of these positive signs, in June 2023 the IUCN reclassified the Mediterranean monk seal from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Vulnerable’."
"There is a long history of human exploitation and persecution of Mediterranean monk seals, stretching back from modern times to the Middle Ages, the Roman era and even to prehistoric times. Like other monk seals, Mediterranean monk seals likely rested and pupped on sandy beaches in many areas, but over centuries of exploitation and harassment, they now almost always rest and pup in inaccessible caves that contain sandy beaches. The low pup survival rate that occurs in Mauritania is thought to result from the use of caves where pups are at risk of being swept away during storms."
The bear's favorite food is the buckthorn berry, which they feast on in the late summer time in the mountains of the Abruzzo park, where the remainder of the subspecies live.[8] Other components of their diet include meat, eating carcasses as well as hunting for certain wild animals, which is why they are not considered a harmful predator to those around them. On the other hand, some domestic animals, including sheep, chickens, turkeys and a few others may fall victim to the bear and its sharp claws.[8]
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