Damnatio ad bestias
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Damnatio ad bestias (Latin for "condemnation to beasts") was a form of capital punishment in which the condemned were maimed on the circus arena or thrown to a cage with animals, usually lions. It was brought to ancient Rome around the 2nd century BC from Asia, where a similar penalty existed from at least the 6th century BC. In Rome, damnatio ad bestias was used as entertainment and was part of the inaugural games of the Flavian Amphitheatre. In the 1st–3rd centuries AD, this penalty was mainly applied to the worst criminals and early Christians (Latin: christianos ad leones, "Christians to the lions"). It was abolished in 681 AD.
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Description in popular culture
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Literature
- Tommaso Campanella in his utopia , "The City of the Sun" suggests using damnatio ad bestias as a form of punishment.
- Bernard Shaw. Androcles and Lion
- Henryk Sienkiewicz. Quo Vadis
- Lindsey Davis. Two for the Lions. A novel of life in Ancient Rome, series Marcus Didius Falco
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Music
- Ottorino Respighi, The Roman Triptych, fragment Circene: Christian martyrs in the arena.
- Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth: the song Christians to the Lions
- American death metal band Morbid Angel: the song Lion's Den
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Film
- Fights against wild animals in the arena of the Roman Colosseum were displayed in Gladiator (2000) and other films.
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See also
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