23 G

COCK-FIGHTING.

Emperors Trajan and Adrian. 4 However, he only says,that the brothers quarrelled about a quail. Did any othercorroborative relations exist to prove that cock or quailfighting was common about that time, it would not then heindeed deviating from historical probability to imaginethat the quarrel took place during the pastime of quail-fighting.

Quails, as well as domestic cocks, are extremely irrita-ble and quarrelsome birds; like cocks, they can be em-ployed in fighting : but quail-fighting appears to have beenfirst employed by the Romans, in whose writings it is oftenmentioned; whereas, among the Greeks, it seldom ornever occurs,—whilst cock-fighting is repeatedly mentioned.Although the latter sported with quails, they did not do soby way of quarrelsome incitement.

The Romans appear to have bred and employed par-tridges for fighting. Lampridius relates, that the EmperorAlexander Severus was fond of seeing battles of this kind;and AUlian, who lived in Italy under Heliogabalus , in thesecond century, says, that those who kept partridges forfighting, when they pitted them, placed the females nearto the males, to render them more courageous.

It is probable that Pahnerius, who lived many centuriesafter the event, and took it up, most likely, upon traditionalreport only, judging that as quail-fighting was commonamong the Romans, he conceived it was likely to have beenequally familiar to the Greeks and in Phrygia . But wesubmit the best opinions which can be offered upon thissubject are merely conjectural; and, although the learned,as we have seen, have not been sparing of their trouble toendeavour to • arrive at some certainty with respect to theantiquity of cock-fighting, as it relates to time; they mightreally have saved themselves much trouble had they for amoment reflected that it is in the nature of this birdto fight; and that, * with it, fighting appears to be asnatural as does any other of its propensities or habitualinclinations.

However, to leave the region of conjecture, we nowadvance upon firm historical ground, where we find itrecorded, that upon one of the invasions of Greece by the

♦ See Vossius de Historicis Grsecis. Ludg. Bat. 1651. 4to. lib. ii. cap. 10.p. 213. Extracts from this book of Ptolemy , wipi napa^ov Wt epia;, may belound in Phntii Bibliotheca, 1612. fol. p. 472. The words relating to this subjectare : xai ava ifsdimu «utov (fratrera) wipi oprvyie fihoynxourrat et de coturnice con-tcndentem occubuisse.