What is the history of veganism? Is it a creation
of hippies and hipsters? A modern diet fad? Or does it reach back further? Well today
we’re going to go back- way back. Okay, not that far- to ancient times- to see where
the philosophy of veganism took root. Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome
to another vegan nugget. This video is the first in a series on the History of Veganism.
I actually started off intending to do A video on the history of veganism, but after days
of being glued to the computer, I realized an all-encompassing video would be far more
than nugget sized. The other caveat I’d like to throw out there
in my obsessively thorough manner, is to state that I will most definitely leave out important
people and important events in this series- it’s inevitable and happens in every historical
account ever composed. And the farther back we go, the less comprehensive the information.
You’ll also see that hard and fast information on what exactly particular ancients ate isn’t
always explicitly stated. There is undoubtedly more that we don’t know about times past
than we do. This video will attempt to be as linear and chronological as possible but
there will be large gaps and a bit of jumping around. You’ll also notice in today’s video the
striking and complete lack of any women in this synopsis of ancient times. Is this
because women were not important or influential? Not at all. But they were incredibly marginalized
and in most societies seen and treated as inferior- not that that drastically changes
in modern history- but that’s for another time. So, all of that out of the way, onwards to
The History of Veganism!!! Part one One of the many arguments against veganism
is that it’s a relatively new phenomena and that humans have “always” eaten meat.
Now this video isn’t going to focus on the question of when we began eating meat nor
whether we are meant to eat animals but I’ll just make a note that while historians, anthropologists
and archeologists have difficulty agreeing when we started to consume animals, they do
seem to agree that it’s something we started some time in our human ancestry, not something
that we’d always done. Paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner with the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History focuses her research on the evolution
of meat eating in humans. She says, “The meat-eating that we do, or that our ancestors
did even back to the earliest time we were eating meat, is culturally mediated. You need
some kind of processing technology in order to eat meat, and there’s an amazing amount
of social diversity in the way that meat is used, cooked and eaten in the modern world.
So I don’t necessarily think we are hardwired to eat meat, but it is an important part of
our evolutionary history.” And the man himself, Dr. Richard Leakey states:
“You can't tear flesh by hand, you can't tear hide by hand.... We wouldn't have been
able to deal with food sources that required those large canines" And Hillary Maywell of National Geographic
posites that, “Some early humans may have started eating meat as a way to survive within
their own ecological niche.” Now Leakey and Pobiner at least put forth
that eating meat is a very vital and important step in our evolution. Exactly when and how
that happened, and how it has affected our biology, however, is an ongoing heated debate. But what we’re going to delve into is the
question: once humans started eating animals, when and how did some decide to speak out
against this practice? To find the origins of veganism, we must look
to the history of vegetarianism, as the term “vegetarian” was used well into the1900s
to describe what we now refer to as a vegan diet, as well as other notable variations.
So it’s often difficult to know what all the ancients were abstaining from. Of course, in very ancient times, there wasn’t
an overarching term for this way of life, though the Greeks did refer to it as “abstinence
from beings with a soul.” But the lack of a unifying term was particularly because the
earliest forms of abstention from consuming and/or exploiting animals were linked to religious
or spiritual practices, with the followers identifying by their denomination or practice
rather than any unifying concept. And... ...there was no internet. Perhaps the earliest known potential evidence
of at least vegetarianism goes back to 7000BCE, over 9,000 years ago, to a town called Mehrgarh,
belonging to the Indus river civilization. It’s widely known that followers of the
Hindu religion do not consume meat and while the exact beginning of Hinduism is vague,
its philosophical foundation reaches back potentially as far as Mehrgarh, far before
any written text or scripture was made. The term Hindu is etymologically linked to the
Sanskrit Sindhu, which is the ancient name for the Indus River, and was a term the Persians
used to identify the people living near the river. Ancient Hindu texts have many references to
the practice of nonviolence towards non-humans animals. The Bhagavad Gita states “One is
dearest to God who has no enemies among the living beings, who is nonviolent to all creatures.”
And the Srimad Bhagavatam states, “To be non-violent to human beings and to be a killer or enemy
of the poor animals is Satan's philosophy.” The Manusmṛti, or Laws of Manu, which is
dated anywhere between 10,000 years ago in the 7900s BCE and 200 CE, depending on the
scholar, states “Meat cannot be obtained without injury to animals…He who does not
eat meat becomes dear to men, and will not be tormented by diseases. There is no greater
sinner than that man who seeks to increase the bulk of his own flesh by the flesh of
other beings. Thus having well considered the disgusting origin of meat and the cruelty
of fettering and slaying of corporeal beings, let him entirely abstain from eating flesh." Now sometime between 1440 and 1400 BCE the
Hebrew book of Genesis, also included in the Old Testament, was composed. It states "I
give you all plants that bear seed everywhere on Earth, and every tree bearing fruit which
yields seed: they shall be yours for food. All green plants I give for food to the wild
animals, to all the birds of heaven, and to all reptiles on Earth, every living creature,
it shall be theirs for food." So in the utopian times of the Garden of Eden,
humans and animals were made vegan. Akhenaten, known as “the Heretic King” was an Egyptian pharaoh and pacifist who banned animal sacrifice
and traditional Egyptian religion and instituted a religion based on compassion and monotheism.
Akhenten believed it to be sinful to take away any life given by Aten, his monotheistic
deity. In Egyptian Myth and Legend, Donald Mackenzie writes: "No sacrifices were offered up in his temple;
the fruits of the earth alone were laid on the alters" In psalm 36:6 of Hebrew scriptures, David
writes “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great
deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord displaying the value of kindness to
animals". While there is debate as to whether David actually composed the Psalms and no
certainty on the date it was composed, David lived c1040-970 BCE Around 950 BCE comes a quote attributed to
Solomon in Proverbs 12:10 in which he states “The righteous one regards the life of his
animal but the heart of the wicked is without mercy.” And Ecclesiastes, “I decided that
God is testing us, to show us that we are no better than animals. After all, the same
fate awaits man and animals alike. One dies just like the other. They are the same kind
of creature. A human being is no better off than an animal. How can anyone be sure
that a man's spirit goes upward while an animal's spirit goes down into the ground?” Much like Hinduism, Jainism doesn’t have
a set starting date. The earliest tirthankara, or teacher of Jainism to be accepted as a
legitimate historical figure is Pārśva, who lived c. 877–777 BCE. However, as he
was the twenty-third tirthankara, Jainism certainly reaches back much further in time,
with many of its practitioners believing there is no start date at all. One of the main tenants
of Jainism, is Ahimsa- non-violence. This principle is applied to all living things,
even plants. Although they admit that plants must be destroyed
for the sake of food, Jains accept such violence only inasmuch as it is indispensable for human
survival. Strict Jains, including Jain monks and nuns, do not eat root vegetables such
as potatoes, onions and garlic, because tiny organisms are injured when the plant is pulled
up, and also because a bulb or tuber's ability to sprout is seen as characteristic of a living
being. They will also brush the ground in front of them before they walk to avoid crushing
insects and wear masks over their mouths to avoid breathing them in. Between 786-746BCE, the book of Hosea from
Hebrew scripture was written stating: "I will make for you a covenant on that day with
the animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will
abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety.” And in 740 BCE we have the proposed writing
of the book of Isaiah which states “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard
will lie down with the goat, and the calf and the lion and the yearling together” and “The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the
ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy
mountain." These quotes are in line with many Hebrew and Biblical prophesies of
peace between humans and animals which hold this relationship up as the ideal. The Yogashastra (c, 500BCE), a Jain Scripture,
states that “Non-injury to all living beings is the only religion.” “This is the quintessence
of wisdom; not to kill anything. All breathing, existing, living sentient creatures should
not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away. This
is the pure unchangeable Law. Therefore, cease to injure living things.” “All living
things love their life, desire pleasure and do not like pain; they dislike any injury
to themselves; everybody is desirous of life and to every being, his life is very dear.” Sound familiar? Yes, well before your Facebook
petition, people were advocating for animals over 2,500 years ago. In the 8th Century BCE, during the 700's, we have
the proposed writing of Homer’s Odyssey, though it was verbally passed down before
that. In the Odyssey, Homer speaks of the Lotophagi (the lotus eaters) an indigenous people
on the North African coast who live off the lotus plant’s fruits and flowers, which
also acted as a narcotic. Take that one with a grain of salt. Or a narcotic plant! Around 600BCE there is the estimated birth
of Siddhārtha Gautama or Buddha. There is ongoing debate as to his validity as a historical
figure and his & his followers’ adherence to vegetarian diet, however Chinese Buddhism,
and Taoism in the late 4th century, required that monks and nuns eat an egg free, onion
free vegetarian diet. Since abbeys were usually self-sufficient,
in practice this meant they ate a vegan diet. Many religious orders, like the Jains, also
avoid hurting plant life by avoiding root vegetables. Chinese spirituality generally
believes that animals have immortal souls, and that a diet of mostly grains is the healthiest
for humans. The Japanese Emperor Tenmu banned the use
of livestock and the consumption of some wild animals due to the influence of Buddhism.
This ban was renewed by succeeding Emperors throughout the Asuka periods of classical civilization. Now we’re going to move into the Greco-Roman
times and a slight shift from the spiritual/religious-based objections into the more philosophical ones, though
spiritual matters still feature prominently. The Greco-Roman diet was mainly composed of
cereals, vegetables, and fruit, with ample research of ancient bones showing that the
gladiators and warriors of ancient Rome were predominantly vegetarian. One of the most commonly cited ancient sources
of pro-animal philosophy is Pythagoras, who lived from 570 BCE to 495 BCE. He taught that
all animals, not just humans, had souls, which were immortal and reincarnated after death,
a concept called transmigration. Since a human might become an animal at death, and an animal
might become a human, Pythagoras believed that killing and eating non-human animals
sullied the soul and prevented union with a higher form of reality. Additionally, he
felt that eating meat was unhealthy and made humans wage war against one another. For these
reasons, he abstained from meat and encouraged others to do likewise, perhaps making him
one of the earliest campaigners for ethical vegetarianism. Abstention from meat was a hallmark of the
so-called “Pythagorean way of life”, though it’s unclear as to how many
of his followers practiced this strictly. Both Orphics, the followers of Orphism, a
set of beliefs based on the mythical poet Orpheus, and strict Pythagoreans also avoided
eggs and shunned the ritual offerings of meat to the gods which were an essential part of
traditional religious sacrifice. A famous statement attributed to Pythagoras
is often cited as evidence of early animal advocacy and a chilling prediction of what
was to come: “As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living
beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they
will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy
and love.” Even among those not following Pythagoras,
there was a widely held belief that in the beginning of human’s existence, our ancestors
were strictly non-violent and that in this utopian state of the world- hunting, livestock
breeding, and meat-eating, as well as agriculture were unknown and unnecessary, as the earth
spontaneously produced in abundance all the food its inhabitants needed. In 490 BCE we have the birth of the Philosopher
Empedocles, who distinguished himself as a radical advocate of vegetarianism specifically
and of respect for animals in general. Like Pythagoras, Empedocles believed in the
transmigration of the soul, that souls can be reincarnated between humans, animals and
even plants. For Empedocles, all living things were on the same spiritual plane. Another prominent figure in history, vegan
or not, is Plato who was born around 428 or 427 BCE. He was influenced by Pythagorean
concepts but did not go as far as Pythagoras did. It is unclear exactly what his diet consisted
of, but Plato’s teachings asserted only humans had immortal souls and that the universe
was for human use. Yet, in The Republic, Plato’s character Socrates argues against the slaughter
and consumption of animals on the grounds of ethics, the prevention of disease in the
body, the prevention of war and strife amongst humanity, and the overall hindrance of achieving
happiness. (sound familiar?) And Plato is quoted as saying: “The gods created certain
kinds of being to replenish our bodies…they are the trees and the plants and the seeds.”
Thus, to Plato, abstention from flesh is warranted out of a desire of peace, happiness, and
health, though he still believed humans to be superior. In the Platonic Academy the scholarchs or school
heads, like Xenocrates and probably Polemon pleaded for vegetarianism and in the Peripatetic school
Theophrastus, Aristotle’s immediate successor, we'll get to him soon, supported it as well. Some of the prominent Platonists and Neo-Platonists
in the age of the Roman Empire lived on a vegetarian diet. These included Plutarch,
Apollonius of Tyana, Plotinus, and Porphyry. More on him soon as well Now Aristotle was Plato’s famous student
and also believed that the universe was for human use and that only human souls were immortal.
Aristotle argued non-human animals could not manage themselves without human aid in spite
of all evidence to the contrary. However, Theophrastus (c. 372-c. 287 BCE),
a Greek biologist and philosopher and student of Aristotle argued that killing animals for
food was wasteful and morally wrong. He argued that war must have forced humans to eat meat
by ruining the crops that they otherwise would have eaten, which is rather similar to the
anthropological statement we opened with about humans turning to the consumption of animals
out of necessity due to competition or shortage. Also unlike Aristotle, Theophrastus claimed
that animal sacrifices angered the gods and turned humanity towards atheism. In 334 BCE we have the birth of Zeno of Citium,
founder of Stoicism. Some prominent Stoics, like Zeno, Ovid, and Seneca refrained from
eating animals. Although Stoics believed that animals were on a lower level than humans,
they maintained that there were other reasons for not eating animal flesh, such as ascetic
simplicity and its being unnecessary for human nutrition. From 304 – 232 BCE lived The Buddhist
emperor Ashoka who was vegetarian and a determined promoter of nonviolence to animals. He disseminated
detailed laws aimed of the protection of many species, abolished animal sacrifice at his
court, and admonished the population to avoid all kinds of unnecessary killing and injury. Sometime between 206 BCE and 220 CE the Han
dynasty in China creates Tofu. Between 60 and 30 BCE Diodorus of Sicily,
a Greek historian- wrote his epic 40-book universal history “Bibliotheca historica”
in which he transmits tales of vegetarian peoples or tribes in Ethiopia. Now 43BCE is when Ovid was born. He was a Pythagorean and influenced
Stoic who, in his poem Metamorphoses, pleaded for people to abandon animal sacrifice and
abstain from eating flesh. Influenced by Pythagoras and Epicurus, the
Roman philosopher Seneca (c. 4 BCE-65 CE) adopted a vegetarian diet. Seneca denounced
the cruelty of the games used by Rome to distract the citizenry. Now in 46-CE we come back to Plutarch, the
Neo-Platonist whom I mentioned earlier. He adopted a vegetarian diet and wrote several
essays in favor of vegetarianism as well as arguing that animals were rational and deserving
of consideration. Of particular note is his essay “On the Eating of Flesh” in which
he relays anatomical arguments inline with today’s vegans and vegetarians, like the
inefficiency of the human digestive system to handle flesh and fact that humans lack
the claws and fangs necessary for the satisfaction of a carnivorous appetite. Yes, we’ve been
answering the canine question for at least over 2,000 years Jump ahead to 205 CE and the birth of Greek
philosopher Plotinus who taught that all animals feel pain and pleasure, not just humans, which
is the first time that we’re hearing this since the ancient Jain scriptures. Plotinus
even avoided medicine made from animals. Unfortunately, he allowed for the wearing of wool and the
use of animals for farm labor while mandating humane treatment. So close, Plotinus. Getting
there, though! Another religious-based abstention came from
Manichaeism, formed by the prophet Mani, who lived from 216–276 CE. Among the Manichaeists
there was an elite group called Electi, or the chosen, who were Lacto-Vegetarians and
adhered to the strict commandment of nonviolence while the common Manichaeists, known as the Auditores
or Hearers, obeyed looser rules of nonviolence. Now back Porphyry, yet another Neo-Platonists
philosopher I spoke of earlier, who lived from 234- 305 CE. Porphyry wrote a treatise
entitled “On abstinence from beings with a soul,” which is apparently the most elaborate
known ancient pro-vegetarian text. He also wrote” On the Impropriety of Killing Living
Beings for Food.” Porphyry argued, much like many we’ve heard from before, that
meat eating encouraged violence. However, he went where others had not thus far and
demonstrated the abilities of animals to reason as well as and argued that justice should
be extended to them. We're getting pretty close to animal rights at this point. Unfortunately, Porphyry didn’t quite bring
it home, but his writing may showed evidence that someone, somewhere did. In his writing
“On abstinence from beings with a soul", he recounts an argument raised to him: “If, however, someone should think it is
unjust to destroy brutes, such a one should neither use milk, nor wool, nor sheep, nor
honey. For as you injure a man by taking from him his garments, thus also, you injure a
sheep by shearing it. Milk, likewise was not produced for you, but for the young
of the animal that has it. The bee also collects honey as food for itself; which you, by taking
away, administer to your own pleasure.” Sounds about right and rather vegan-ny, no?
Sadly, Porphyry rejected these arguments, stating that the animals and bees benefitted
from humans caring for them, a counter argument very familiar today, and it was thus a fair
exchange to utilize these products whilst still abstaining from consuming their flesh. While Porphyry himself didn’t quite make
it to our modern definition of veganism, this exchange is incredibly fascination and rather
exceptional to see occurring over 2,200 years ago. And while the individual or individuals
who made the argument for the abstention from milk, wool and honey to Porphyry may have
been meat-eaters trying to poke holes in vegetarian inconsistencies, it just as well may have
been ancient “vegans” advocating for the logical conclusion of Porphyry’s ethics.
It’s important to note as well that this is an ethical discussion outside of any religious
influence as almost all the examples have been thus far. So, that about rounds out this ancient history
of veganism. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this- did you know pro-vegan ideals reached
so far back? What are your thoughts on the primarily spiritual and religious origins
of much of these practices? What, if any, instances we went over surprised you the most?
Let me know in the comments! The time it took to produce this video clocks
in at about [73 hours]. If you’d like to help support Bite Size Vegan so I can keep putting in the
long hours to bring this free educational resource, please check out the support links in the
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If you enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs up and share it around to spread the history. If you’re new, be sure to hit that big red
subscribe button down there for more awesome vegan content every Monday, Wednesday, and
some Fridays, and to not miss out on the rest of the vegan history series. Next time we move into the middle-ages. And hey, check out some of my other, briefer, videos while you’re here. And remember, extra resources
and citations for everything I talked about are in the blog post for this video linked
up below and in the sidebar. Now go live Vegan, make history, and I’ll see you soon. It must have been really difficult for people
to have these ethical debates and everything over the rights of animals and the like...without
memes. How did they do it? History! of! Veganism! [laughs] I don't know how many times I can
do this. I'm going to wake someone up in my house cause it's really early. [device starts making a noise] Rome to distract the [flubs line] Rome to distract the [flubs line]...My god We're getting pletty- pretty... I think I flubbed my lines on this video
than any video I ever have before. And probably mispronounced...a LOT of names. Sorry ancient people, I did my best.
