During the Hellenistic period technical and practical knowledge concerning elephants and their behaviour was transferred from an Indian context to a Mediterranean one. Scholars generally agree on that description of events, but the overarching thesis must now be bolstered with specific examples. This essay argues that the administration of elephant forests by governments of northwest India, evinced in the Mauryan inscriptions and the political treatise the Arthaśāstra, was the model for the domestication and conservation of the elephant herds of the Mediterranean. This system allowed for a relatively quick addition of animals to armies, and sufficient space for the large mammals.

中文翻译：

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古典地中海的大象森林

在希腊化时期，有关大象及其行为的技术和实践知识从印度语境转移到了地中海语境中。学者们普遍同意对事件的这种描述，但现在必须用具体的例子来支持总体论点。本文认为，印度西北部政府对大象森林的管理，体现在孔雀石铭文和政治论文 Arthaśāstra 中，是地中海大象群驯化和保护的典范。该系统允许相对快速地将动物添加到军队中，并为大型哺乳动物提供足够的空间。