Did Roman officers keep pet monkeys—and did the monkeys have pets too? A 2025 study of burials at Berenike, a Roman-era port on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, reports about three dozen monkey graves from the first and second centuries CE. Some monkeys were buried with kittens or a piglet described as their own pets. The graves make an unusual case for companion animals in antiquity, but they do not name the monkeys’ owners or prove that every monkey had an animal companion.
What was found at Berenike?
Berenike was a Roman-era harbor in Egypt on the Red Sea. In its animal cemetery, researchers identified three dozen monkey graves dated to the first and second centuries CE. The count comes from the 2025 study “A centurion’s monkey?” in the Journal of Roman Archaeology. Read the study.
The burials provide evidence of monkeys kept and treated as more than ordinary cargo or food. The study’s authors describe the Berenike material as “the most comprehensive source to date for the socio-cultural context of keeping exotic pets.” That is their assessment of the archaeological record, not proof of every detail of the animals’ lives.
Did the monkeys really have pets?
Some monkey burials were associated with kittens and a piglet, which the study describes as the monkeys’ own pets. That association is the basis for the “pets had pets” claim. It applies to some burials, not all three dozen: the available account does not establish how many monkeys had companion animals or whether each animal pair lived together.
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Other grave goods included collars, iridescent shells and food delicacies. The researchers interpret these objects as indications that the monkeys received special treatment or held status. Burials can show how people chose to treat animals in death; on their own, they cannot reveal every aspect of daily care or individual relationships.
Were the monkeys owned by Roman officers?
The officer connection is plausible, not proven. The study suggests that a resident Roman elite at Berenike may have been associated with Roman legionary officers posted at the harbor. Its abstract uses the qualification “possibly associated,” and it does not identify a specific officer as an owner.
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Roman officers and soldiers, including men of Legions III or XXII, are discussed as a possible group connected with exotic pets at the port. The graves do not assign each monkey to a particular person, so it would overstate the evidence to say that officers definitively owned all—or any specifically identified one—of these animals.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What do the graves suggest about ancient animal trade?
The study places Berenike’s monkeys in the wider context of Roman contact with distant lands and demand for exotic live animals. It presents the burials as the first zooarchaeological evidence of live-animal trade from India. In other words, the archaeological evidence supports a long-distance route bringing living monkeys to the Red Sea port; it does not by itself document the journey of each animal or the identity of its traders.
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What the evidence establishes—and what it does not
- Direct archaeological evidence: three dozen monkey graves in Berenike’s animal cemetery, dated to the first and second centuries CE, along with collars, shells, food delicacies and, in some cases, kittens or a piglet.
- Researchers’ interpretation: the grave goods indicate special treatment or status; some associated animals are described as the monkeys’ pets; and the burials point to live-animal trade from India.
- Unresolved: no individual owner is identified, the officer connection remains possible rather than certain, and the evidence does not show that all monkeys had companion animals.
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