ABSTRACT

From the third century BCE to the fourth century CE, one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the civilized world was gladiatorial combat.1 Citizens of ancient Rome watched prisoners of war, slaves, and criminals fight one another with deadly weapons, often with the predictable outcome of maiming or death. Sometimes, for variety, the audience was treated to the spectacle of bloody fights between exotic, imported animals. If the games were sponsored by a particularly wealthy politician, then historical battles might be recreated. Under the emperor Nero there was a brief vogue for stage plays, in which people who had been condemned to death were cast in key roles. When the convicts’ characters died in these plays the performers were duly executed in full view of the audience as a part of the performance.