Tuesday, 29 April 2025

CYNOCEPHALUS

This is the ordinary Latin word for a baboon.  However, in ancient times it was used as a name for a dog-headed human.  According to legend, the Roman emperor Diocletian appointed one to serve in his army.  In another legend, St Christopher once had a dog's head.  Aelian, the Roman scholar and the first person to mention fly fishing, placed the cynocephali in India.  He said they were good people, who could not talk but understood human speech.  Pliny placed them in Ethiopia.  However, in Roman times, the terms India and Ethiopia were used somewhat interchangeably.


 

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