So, a bit like Amazon? Ave Jeff!
Must see if they have a lion at good price.
This is an attempt at a joke, BTW.
Empires should spend part of their budget on impressing. The English lad who spent whole days schlepping a few bushels of turnips to the market would be thinking, "I should join the Empire and transport lions".
https://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/16/world/asia/china-zoo-dog-...
Sounds like a polite way to say he was eaten alive
(1) > 6DT19 had been decapitated with a single cut between the second and third cervical vertebrae , delivered from behind.
(2) > Additional [to the decapitation] peri-mortem trauma was present in the form of a series of small depressions on both sides of the pelvis [..]
> Taphonomic damage alone is also unlikely due to the appearance and margins of the lesions, which are the same colour as the surrounding bone (this differs if the break is post-mortem; [56]), and the adherence of bony fragments at the injury site (which occurs when soft tissue is present) .
[1]: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...
> Deaths caused by lions and tigers tend to result from trauma to the neck area, involving the crushing of soft tissue structures and fracturing of the vertebrae, causing suffocation. Both species use their weight to push down the victim, often also leaving extensive damage to the shoulders, arms and chest. Species such as leopards and jaguars focus on the head by puncturing or crushing the skull. [...] The bite marks on 6DT19 are located on the pelvis rather than neck and upper body. Lions and tigers have also been seen to drag their prey away, often by the legs, but lions have also been recorded as causing significant damage to the pelvis of their prey. [...]
> It is proposed, based on the evidence from the archaeological, medical and forensic evidence, that the bite marks on 6DT19 derive from a large felid, such as a lion. The shape is entirely consistent with documented cases of large cat bite marks (such as those presented in [35,46]). The location solely on the pelvis suggests that they were not part of an attack per se, but rather the result of scavenging at around the time of death. The decapitation of this individual was likely either to put him out of his misery at the point of death, or for the sake of conforming to customary practice.
So it was more likely dragging him away (before his dead or nearly-dead body was removed and beheaded), something I don't think it would bother with if it had been seriously wounded. Also, this was likely an execution, so I doubt the man would have had much in the way of weaponry to fight back.
Entertainment and fighting have always existed (and still do), but usually not to the death.
It usually wasn’t to the death in ancient Rome either. Unless your were being executed.
I don’t think that the violence part was unique in any way, Romans were the first commercialize it and scale it up to such an extent though.
I'm just saying we shouldn't get on a high horse about "death spectacles".
The reason not to get on a high horse over it however is simply because comparing the norms of one time to the norms of another is quite pointless. The Romans did great things and they did awful things. Like pretty much every culture to have ever existed and most likely like every culture that ever will exist. And comparing which did worse, outside of obvious extremes, is not meaningful if even possible.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition#Death_toll...
(I'm Catholic; I'm not dunking on Catholicism.)
Gladiator 'games' were part of the 'panem et circensis' or 'bread and circuses/games' strategy to keep the populace from revolting against the powers that be. They've been replaced by the above, and more. If the silly plebs still seem to be restless there's always another crisis at hand to keep them down, from climate to COVID to whatever comes next.
Nothing. Today we have Hollywood and "news" television. 24/7 violence.
There have been recent (1990s and later) discussions on televised executions in the USA.
This is not only anathema, but also abhorrent to people who live in countries without the death penalty.
These "death spectacles" are far from ended. There are definitely people who would welcome their return.
Here's a serious analysis from the USDOJ in 1999 named "Televising Executions, Primetime "Live"?"
Its annotation is "This article examines the pathways to a televised execution, including First Amendment issues, principles of open government and victims' rights."
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/televisi...
I'm afraid that the only thing stopping it are legal barriers to transport and hold such animals.
With a gladius or any other short range weapon, it's just a fancy execution.
slater•9mo ago