Roman Wag Dogs

**wackyserious** · January 26, 2022

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"Canis Pugnax".

From ancient times to the appearance of the first firearms, towards the end of the Middle Ages, armies used different types of white weapons on the battlefield, such as swords, spears, javelins, spades, hammers, axes, etc.

But there was a lethal weapon also used by different combat forces and which has very little been mentioned in history books: the war dog, trained and used exclusively to kill, especially on the sides of weakness formations os or retired soldiers. In ancient times, the first to employ dogs trained for this purpose were the Romans.

The first war dog used by Roman legions on the battlefields of Europe was the Pugnax Canis. This moloss was characterized by its extreme fierceness and caused terror to neglected infantry troops, being taken to the battlefield in battalions of several dozens by special units of the Roman legion. He could reach in weights between 60 and 80 pounds and jump to tear and smash the enemy's neck.

It was a mastiff trained to attack light infantry or cause disorder in enemy lines.

Legions could include special units of Pugnax Canis, or form full legions, with centuries and dog cohorts, classified as Legio Auxilia, or auxiliary units to regular legions.

They were sometimes dressed in leather or metal bras, nail necklaces, or metal mesh pins. They were specially trained to jump and shred the neck and face of enemy soldiers, or as piriferi (“bearers of fire”): they would put buckets of oil burning on their loin, and released them among the enemy cavalry to produce bread ico among the animals.

The Romans also faced enemy dogs in battle. In 55 B.C., Julius Caesar invades Britannia and confronts Celtic warriors accompanied by English mastiffs, leaving the oldest written record of the race.

The Celtic dogs left them "so good impression" in combat, that the Romans began to cross their Pugnax Canis with English Mastiffs.