A wolf-like animal depicted in a Roman mosaic in Syria in the fifth century. It is said to be a hunting dog, but it looks a lot like a robust golden wolf.
This description of the five species of wolf native to the Roman Empire comes from Cynegetica, a poem on hunting that is attributed to Oppian of Apamea.
Of wolves there are five species—the first of a yellow hue,—swift, audacious, and by shepherds named the archer,—the next of superior magnitude and swiftness, known by the two names of the hawk and the plunderer; he seeks his prey with the dawn, and dwells in the lofty mountains—but when snow covers the ground, he assumes greater boldness, and in quest of prey approaches even the city walls. The third species inhabits the mountains of Taurus and Cilicia—an animal superior to the race of wolves, named the Golden, of prodigious strength, and able to resist the unspent brass and the pointed iron. He dreads the rising of the dog-star, and during the prevalence of its heat, lies concealed in his shady cavern. Of the two remaining species, the one from his white colour is named the Hoary Kite. The other is of smaller size,—black,— hirsute,—preys on hares (Cynegetica, Book Third).
This poem was written in the third century, and it includes an analysis and description of just about every game animal within the Roman Empire and the areas adjacent to its borders. The notion of there being more than one species of wolf within Eurasia is something we don’t generally accept today, the supposed full species status of the Indian and Himalayan wolves not withstanding.
There is also a lot of exotic information about wildlife in this piece. Within lines adjacent to the discussion about wolves, we learn that hyenas change their sex every year and that male hyenas “become fruitful dams.” This is obviously a reference to the bizarre genitalia of female spotted hyenas, which would have been known from African specimens. Spotted hyenas lived in the Middle East as recently as 8,000 years ago, but that would have been thousands of years before the poem was written. However, female striped hyenas sometimes have similar genitalia morphologies, which disappear as they mature, and striped hyenas are the species Oppian clearly describes in the text.
The author also points out that wolves mate with panthers, producing a creatures called “Thoes.” This word is very similar to “thos,” the Classical Greek word for jackal. I don’t think that anyone thinks a jackal is a hybrid between a black leopard and a wolf.
Despite its inaccuracies, this piece of zoological literature is still useful.
For one thing, this section on the wolves tells us that wolves were once quite diverse in behavior and phenotype– even more so than they are now.
This small black wolf was around for a while. As recently as the nineteenth century, there were small black wolves in the mountains of Syria that was a “Derboun.” It may have been a pariah dog, or a type of naturally occurring wolfdog hybrid. Or it may have been a naturally occurring melanistic Arabian or Iranian wolf that may or may not have any relationship to modern melanistic wolves.
The big golden wolf could have been a striped hyena, but it also could have referred to an unusually powerful wolf. However, Oppian clearly describes the striped hyena as an animal with stripes. If the golden wolf had been a striped hyena, it would have been unlikely that he would have clearly defined the striped hyena without pointing out this similarity.
However, one should keep in mind that it is unlikely that Oppian had first hand knowledge of every animal in the text, but he might have encountered them via trade routes that crossed through the Levant. The Romans were obsessed with keeping exotic animals in menageries and for their circuses. Oppian may have been a noted sportsman of the region– perhaps someone who was responsible for taking notables out on hunting forays in the region–for the book is full of advice on how to hunt various animals. It is unlikely that Oppian hunted these animals himself, but he could have known from talking to those who hunted them and were transporting them across the empire.
But I do think this piece suggests something we already knew. Wolves are a highly variable species, and in ancient times, they were so varied in appearance that they were thought of as different species.
