Ancient Rome apparently had a thing for Nile-born Egyptian crocodiles: The expansion and wealth of the Roman republic saw magistrates and officials begin using its vast arenas “to impress the masses and promote their own personal brand through the display of exotic animals in a kind of fatal zoo-aquarium,” writes an assistant professor of classics at the University of Iowa in a piece for Forbes’ contributor network. The crocs and their dauntless hunters, the Tentyritæ, featured strongly in the art of the era, writes Sarah Bond. “Those who put on Roman games and paid Egyptian crocodile hunters along the Nile for capturing them fed on the hunger of a Roman audience to see the fantastical beasts at the edges of the newly-acquired bounds of the Roman empire.” These croc hunters were paid top denarii for their skills. Eat your heart out Steve Irwin (too soon?)