What is truth and what is fiction?

The poor gladiator being made to face lions, a puny shield and sword against massive teeth and claws in … York?

Over five years ago, a rather puzzling ancient burial site was uncovered in York, UK. Skeletons there were either missing heads, or the heads seemed to have been placed next to the carcass, with other carcasses, or stove in. Initial reports were sketchy as to details, but an immediate thought was that this represented a burial site for victims of a mass slaughter – were they Vikings defeated in battle? Victims of a Viking raid?

Apparently now, according to an article in the Daily Mail, the burial site dates from Roman times, and those buried there were … gladiators! Yes indeed, forensic pathologists have been at work, and the Daily Mail article even describes how those pathologists were able to discover “tiger” tooth marks on a bone of one of those interred a long time ago. Or maybe those of a big dog?

Gladiators and Roman circuses have been a tremendously popular theme for Hollywood movies (see Russell Crowe in “Gladiator” or Charlton Heston in “Ben Hur”), but what is truth and what is fiction? All those thumbs down to execute the loser? The poor gladiator being made to face lions and tigers, a puny shield and sword against massive teeth and claws in … York? Pure Hollywood.

For one thing, York is sort of way up there in terms of the geography of Britain. Could have been Scotland if not for a wall built by Hadrian, another Roman. Now we have all been informed by history that the Romans were terribly clever – they built roads, set up an empire, established London, established the Pax Romana, built bridges and aqueducts and coliseums and amphitheatres. But could they have transported a lion from Africa to York by horse (or more likely ox) drawn carriage, by ship, and then more horse drawn carriages? Think of the logistics involved! Surely not a tiger – in Roman times that animal would have to have come from India? Now that would really be a journey to York?

Throw them to the lions!

Another popular theme is that condemned Christians were thrown to lions for the amusement of those who bought tickets to the coliseum. Did it actually happen?

It is well recorded that Romans had problems with the emerging religion of Christianity, and Judaism before that. Until Roman emperors themselves became Christian, persecution was the order of the day, either intermittent or empire-wide. 

The Christian religion has always had an affinity for lions – Jesus was called the Lion of Judah, St Mark is associated with a winged lion image, and Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den to test his faith. But were Christians really fed to the lions? Tacitus, a historian during Nero’s days recorded this in his Annals (XV.44) “...a vast multitude [of Christians], were convicted, not so much of the crime of incendiarism [Rome’s big fire was blamed on Christian arsonists] as of hatred of the human race. And in their deaths they were made the subjects of sport; for they were wrapped in the hides of wild beasts and torn to pieces by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set on fire, and when day declined, were burned to serve for nocturnal lights”.

Religious persecution has been around for as long as there were at least two competing religions in the world. But whether lions actually dined on Christians for the entertainment of bloodthirsty coliseum crowds needs to be taken with a grain of salt. It makes good Hollywood and paintings, but is it factual?

Picture: “The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer” Jean-Leon Gerome, 1883. Public domain.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1284496/Skeletons-80-gladiators-slaughtered-crowds-unearthed-York.html

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