Exploitation of Animals for Entertainment

In this section we take another look into how Romans exploited animals. This section focuses on how Pliny describes the entertainment value of animals at the time. Many of these animals were used in fights in the colossuem. This type of exploitation not only reflects mistreatment of animals but a sadistic form of it that forces animals to kill one another or be killed by humans. This type of entertainment, however, was most readily consumed by people of the lower classes. It represented a cheap form of entertainment that would distract one from daily life. From Pliny's text it appears as if he contains no interest for the games themselves but rather the logistical underpinnings of them. This would parallel how the elite would rather manage the resources of a farm and not maintain it themselves.