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Hunting in ancient Greece was an activity conducted commonly, as it was seen as a right of passage for men. After contacts with the ancient Near East world, the royal hunt became popular among Greek rulers in the Hellenistic Age.<ref>For more on hunting during the Hellenistic Age, see: Strootman, R. (2014). Courts and elites in the Hellenistic empires: the Near East after the Achaemenids, c. 330 to 30 BCE. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pg. 199.</ref> Hunting by royal households and emperors was also popular in the Roman world. Hadrian was known, for example, to hunt wild bears in Greece and other locations. The Roman emperors began to hunt a variety of wild game as they encountered new animals with their empire expanding.<ref>For more on Roman Emperors hunting, see: Canepa, M. P. (2009). The two eyes of the Earth: art and ritual of kingship between Rome and Sasanian Iran. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press, pg. 159.</ref>
[[File:Hongli Spearing a Tiger - detail.png|thumbnail|The royal hunt during the Qing Dynasty. Altough this depiction shows the royal hunt in the Qing Dynasty, this activity originates from much older Chinese royal hunts in royal parks.]]
Despite the fact that much of ancient Indian society was vegetarian, kings did participate in hunting.<ref>For more on ancient royal hunting in India, see: Sen, S. N. (1999). Ancient Indian history and civilization. New Delhi: New Age International, pg. 134.</ref> In fact, sometimes the names of kings often referred to these activities as a way to remember these kings in later periods. Kings hunted deer and lion and even when there was condemnation of this activity it still seemed common to kings.
In ancient China, the hunt was also important for royalty. Royal parks were created such as in the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), where dogs would be reared and used during these royal activities.<ref>For more information on the royal hunt in ancient China, see: Duindam, J. F. J., & Dabringhaus, S. (Eds.). (2014). The dynastic centre and the provinces: agents and interactions. Leiden ; Boston: Brill, pg. 141.</ref> It was important for the Chinese emperors to find and kill their prey, thus parks are important as a means to ensure there were animals present. Deer, tigers, and rhinoceroses were among the animals hunted in the royal parks. We know that in some periods the royal hunt was also used as an occasion to invite foreign emissaries and diplomats. The emperor would use the opportunity to conduct court business and would use the occasion as an official gathering rather than in the main capital.
