The king of the jungle once ruled in the Southeastern European jungle too (‘jungle’ is a Hindi word meaning an uninhabited place), even before the Roman Empire began shipping them from Africa.
It’s a well-known fact that the first lions appeared one the European continent around 22 thousand years ago. And even though these ancient cave lions died out more than 6000 years ago, from the 1970s bone fragments of modern lions have been popping up all over Southeastern Europe. How come? Archeologists believe that modern lions, that are still present in Africa, had a bit of history in Europe too, during the Copper and Bronze ages.
So far, researchers have recorded 110 bones that belong to the modern day lion (Panthera leo) throughout 25 sites in Southeastern Europe and 13 in Greece – although it’s impossible to know how many remain unexcavated. The European lion probably inhabited parts of the Balkan Peninsula, most notably Greece, Hungary, and Ukraine. Most recent findings of lion bones are from around the 7th century B.C, but scientists believe that the species could have even survived till the 3rd century B.C.
When the bones were found, the suspicion arose that they came from the remains of lions imported for being kept as pets, or hunting parties, rather than wild individuals. However, the discoveries were made in relatively remote places, far from major trade routes or larger cities. Also, there’s widespread agreement in the scientific community that humans in Europe must have been surrounded by wild lions for hundreds of years.
Cut marks on some of the bones also indicate that the lions were hunted, and that they were skinned for their fur or ritual purposes – just like in the legends of Achilles, who is said to have eaten the intestines of lions as a child.
In fact, that is not the only mention of lions in Greek mythology and writings. One of the best known stories is about Hercules, who was facing a lion during one of his adventures. According to another story, when Xerxes was advancing in Greece, his troops were attacked by lions. Aristotle even wrote about the distribution, behavior, and anatomy of the lions in the 4th century B.C. Their story survived on artifacts as well, such as daggers, coins, and statues.
While many statues and other depictions show obviously imaginary lions, some look strikingly real, capturing their features and behavior very accurately. For example, many artifacts and tombstones found at the island of Mycenae, where many of the Greek lion bones were found, portray lions attacking their prey.
Therefore, scientists estimate the disappearance of the European lion from the wild around the time when artistic depictions of lions became less wild and accurate. What probably has led to the extinction of these animals during antiquity is the lack of peaceful co-existence with humans. But who is to blame for it?
Undeniably, lions continued to have a profound impact on European culture after their extinction on the continent. During the Roman Empire, images of lions were put on many architectural decorations, and the lion was even the symbol of the city of Rome until the Renaissance. Throughout the medieval ages, kings were often entitled “the lion” for their courage or fierceness.
Today, there are more lion statues across Europe than actual wild lions anywhere in the world, with only around 20.000 individuals remaining outside of captivity, compared to around 10.000 statues in London alone.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4