Xenophon and Arrian on Hunting

As hunting generates such fierce debate in Britain today, it seems an appropriate moment to examine the two best classical works on the subject. For both authors hunting was primarily for hares with hounds. Xenophon describes the establishment needed, how to use it in the field and justifies hunting as the first part of education and the best training for war. Arrian’s treatise, some five hundred years later, is a commentary on Xenophon’s; to bring it up-to-date, as he says. He describes the revolution in hunting that the introduction of gaze-hounds had caused and many charming anecdotes about his hunting experiences and his favourite hound. Both give a vivid picture of the daily life of two wealthy Greeks at leisure which the modern huntsman will find familiar.