462 



The Roman Potteries at DurobrivcB. 



hunting the hare spontaneously and alone, and bring it, when 

 killed, home carefully to its master, without damage to thebody — 



" Nbn sibi, sed domino, venatur vertagus acer, 

 IHsesuni leporem qui tibi dente feret." 



It is certain that the Eomans valued especially the hunting 

 dogs which they obtained from Britain. Oppian (Cyneg. i., 

 468) calls them a noble race, speaks of them as slender in 

 form, and commemorates their other characteristics, in terms 

 some of which might apply to the greyhound — 



"*E<TTt 8e ri <rnvXa.K(tiv ytvos &\ki/xoi/ IxvevT^pwv, 

 Baibv, wrap fieydhris avrd^iov e/jLtiev aoidys' 

 Tobs rpacpeu &ypia <pv\a Uptravwv aloKovdiToiv." 



The Roman writers have not left us any very satisfactory descrip- 

 tion of the varieties of the dog, as they existed among them, 

 and they were probably far less numerous than at present. 

 The ancient writers, even those who treat especially on cyne- 

 getics, speak in general terms of this domestic animal, and of 

 his faithfulness and intelligence, but say less about the special 

 qualities of its different varieties. Nemesianus, another poet 

 who wrote on this subject, tells us, without any particular 

 descriptiou of them, of different breeds of dogs which came 

 from different countries, and expressly states that those brought 

 from Britain were remarkable for their swiftness, and for their 

 excellence for hunting. 



" Divisa Britannia mittit 

 Veloces, nostrique or bis venatibus aptos." 



Nemesiani Cynegetica, 1, 123. 



(qL^=6^ d=*=£> 



<Z=5**3, 



^^M§> 





Tig. 3.— A Stag-hunt. 



This description accords with the greater number of the figures 

 of dogs represented in the hunting scenes of our Durobrivian 



