Christians and the Roman games

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The Roman Empire was known for promoting "over the top" public entertainment, especially their games. Though popular, the brutal games caused the death and dismemberment of many men and beasts in pursuit of pleasing Roman citizens. Such brutality reached its peak in the gladiatorial fights:

"The most popular, and at the same time the most inhuman and brutalizing of these public spectacles were the gladiatorial fights in the arena. Myriads of men and beasts were sacrificed to satisfy a savage curiosity and thirst for blood. At the inauguration of the Flavian amphitheater from five to nine thousand wild beasts were slain in one day. No less than ten thousand gladiators fought in the feasts which Trajan gave to the Romans after the conquest of Dacia, and which lasted four months." (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 2: Ante-Nicene Christianity, Scribner's, New York, 1889, page 95.)

Trajan certain had his reasons for celebrating the conquest of Dacia. In 117 A.D., his conquering of the region (west of the Black Sea) catapulted the empire to reach the largest territory that would ever be under its control. Under Trajan, the empire controlled 2.5 million square miles (6.5 million square kilometers) of territory.

Due to the generous support of the Roman Emperor or wealthy citizen, a visitor to the Coliseum could watch animals hunted, or the execution of prisoners or even gladiators fighting. The number of men who died while battling was high. Estimates are that in the first century A.D., the loser in a gladiatorial fight lost his life about 25% per cent of the time. By the third century, this figure became almost 50%. (Fik Meijer, The Gladiators: History's Most Deadly Sport, Thomas Dunne Books, page 61)

The hunting of wild animals as public entertainment in the arena began in 186 B.C. Then in 167 B.C., the practice of having these animals execute criminals began. Such events proved popular. The emperor Augustus, during his rule, sponsored games in which a total of 3,500 wild animals died. The notorious Nero once had 400 bears and 300 lions killed in a single day. The importation of so many exotic animals from Africa was such that eventually certain types became difficult to find.

Christian opposition to the games

The lone voice of protest against the carnage of the Roman games came from Christians. Believers stayed away from the amphitheaters, a practice promoted by church leaders such as Tertullian (160 - 225 A.D.). The shear brutality to both humans and animals was a major reason Christians opposed the games. The blatant disregard for suffering and life itself promoted by Rome as sport, especially involving gladiators, ran counter to the teaching of Jesus and the early church. Tertullian even denounced the practice of eating meat killed during the games. He stated that consuming such meat from animals who took the lives of humans in the arena was tantamount to cannibalism.

One Bible passage cited by both Christians and Jews in condemning the games is in Psalm 1.

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:1-2, NKJV)

If anything qualified as a "seat of the scornful," it was a seat at the Coliseum.

Jews also opposed the games. Jewish oral law stated only two reasons for a Jew to attend the games. The first is that an Israelite could attend to argue the sparing of the life of a fallen gladiator. The second is to testify on behalf of a dead gladiator's widow so that she could remarry. These exceptions came with the stipulation that the attendee does not succumb to the temptation of watching the games as entertainment. This task of avoiding the lure of the games, however, proved difficult.

The end of the games

Eventually, the influence of the Christian Church brought about the disappearance of the gladiatorial games, especially when crowds attending such spectacles were dwindling. Philip Schaff quotes a nineteenth-century historian in regards to the role Christians played in ending the violence of the games:

"There is scarcely any other single reform so important in the moral history of mankind as the suppression of the gladiatorial shows, and this feat must be almost exclusively ascribed to the Christian church. When we remember how extremely few of the best and greatest men of the Roman world had absolutely condemned the games of the amphitheater, it is impossible to regard, without the deepest admiration, the unwavering and uncompromising consistency of the patristic denunciations."