One of the first things anyone taking a Latin 101 class learns is “Cave Canem,” or Beware of the Dog.” Some cynologists believe that  the warning typically found in mosaic tiles found on floors or walls of ancient Roman houses wasn’t to warn of a dangerous dog, but to remind visitors not to step on miniature hounds similar to (if not the ancestors of ) Italian Greyhounds. Romans likely brought the hounds to the Mediterranean around 600 BC from Egypt where IGs are believed to have originated around 3,000 BC, their mummified remains found in tombs of the Pharaoh’s in the Valley of Kings at Luxor.

Cleopatra was said to be an Italian Greyhound owner, and since it’s written that she presented Julius Caesar with Italian Greyhound puppies in 48 BC after he had conquered Egypt, it’s possible that she was an early IG breeder!