Damnatio ad bestias (Latin for "condemnation to beasts") was a form ofRoman capital punishment where the condemned person was killed by wild animals, usuallylions or otherbig cats. This form of execution, which first appeared during theRoman Republic around the 2nd century BC, was part of a wider class ofblood sports calledBestiarii.
Publicdamnatio ad bestias was considered a common form of entertainment especially for the lower class citizens of Rome (plebeians). Killings by wild animals formed part of theinaugural games of the Colosseum in AD 80. Between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, this penalty was applied to the worst of criminals, runaway slaves, andChristians.[citation needed]
The exact purpose of early forms ofdamnatio ad bestias is not known. They might have been intended as religious sacrifices rather than as punishments,[1] especially in regions wherelions existed naturally and were revered by the population. In northern Africa, during theMercenary War, Carthaginian generalHamilcar Barca threw prisoners to the beasts,[2] whereasHannibal forced Romans captured in thePunic Wars to fight each other, and the survivors had to stand againstelephants.[3]
There were no wild lions in Italy and human sacrifice had been banned in theRoman Kingdom since the 7th century BC, according to legends which attributed this ban toNuma Pompilius. Whendamnatio ad bestias appeared there later, it was as a punishment and spectacle rather than as a spiritual practice.
Whereas the termdamnatio ad bestias is usually used in a broad sense, historians distinguish two subtypes:obicĕre bestiis[citation needed] (to throw to beasts) where the humans are defenseless, anddamnatio ad bestias, where the punished are both expected and prepared to fight.[4] In addition, there were professional beast fighters trained in special schools, such as the Roman Morning School, which received its name by the timing of the games.[5] These schools taught not only fighting but also the behavior and taming of animals.[6] The fighters were released into the arena dressed in a tunic and armed only with a spear (occasionally with a sword). They were sometimes assisted byvenators (hunters),[7] who used bows, spears and whips. Such group fights were not human executions but rather staged animal fighting and hunting. Various animals were used, such aselephants,rhinoceroses,wild boars,buffaloes,hippopotamuses,aurochs, bears, lions, tigers, leopards, hyenas, and wolves. The first such staged hunting (Latin:venatio) featured lions and panthers, and was arranged byMarcus Fulvius Nobilior in 186 BC at theCircus Maximus on the occasion of the Greek conquest ofAetolia.[8][9] TheColosseum and other circuses still contain underground hallways that were used to lead the animals to the arena.
The custom of submitting criminals to lions was brought to ancient Rome by two commanders,Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, who defeated the Macedonians in 167 BC, and his sonScipio Aemilianus, who conquered the African city ofCarthage in 146 BC.[11] It was originally a military punishment, possibly borrowed from the Carthaginians. Rome reserved its earliest use for non-Roman military allies found guilty of defection or desertion.[1] The sentenced were tied to columns or thrown to the animals, practically defenseless (i.e.obicĕre bestiis).
Some documented examples ofdamnatio ad bestias in Ancient Rome include the following:Strabo witnessed[12] the execution of the rebel slaves' leader Selurus.[13][9] The banditLaureolus was crucified and then devoured by an eagle and a bear, as described by the poetMartial in hisBook of Spectacles.[14][15] Such executions were also documented bySeneca the Younger (On anger, III 3),Apuleius (The Golden Ass, IV, 13),Titus Lucretius Carus (On the Nature of things) andPetronius Arbiter (Satyricon, XLV).Cicero was indignant that a man was thrown to the beasts to amuse the crowd just because he was considered ugly.[16][17]Suetonius wrote that when the price of meat was too high,Caligula ordered prisoners, with no discrimination as to their crimes, to be fed to circus animals.[18]Pompey useddamnatio ad bestias for showcasing battles and, during his second consulate (55 BC), staged a fight between heavily armed gladiators and 18 elephants.[3][19][20]
The most popular animals weretigers, which were imported to Rome in significant numbers specifically fordamnatio ad bestias.[9]Brown bears, brought fromGaul,Germany and evenNorth Africa, were less popular.[21][22] Local municipalities were ordered to provide food for animals in transit and not delay their stay for more than a week.[9][23] Some historians believe that the mass export of animals to Rome had a serious impact on wildlife numbers in North Africa.[24]
The use ofdamnatio ad bestias against Christians began in the 1st century AD.Tacitus states that during the first persecution of Christians under the reign ofNero (after theGreat Fire of Rome in AD 64), people were wrapped in animal skins (calledtunica molesta) and thrown to dogs.[25] This practice was followed by other emperors who moved it into the arena and used larger animals. Application ofdamnatio ad bestias to Christians was intended to equate them with the worst criminals, who were usually punished this way.
There is a widespread view among contemporary specialists[26] that the prominence of Christians among those condemned to death in the Roman arena was greatly exaggerated in earlier times. There is no evidence for Christians being executed at theColosseum in Rome.[27]
According toRoman laws, Christians were:[28][better source needed]
The spread of the practice of throwing Christians to beasts was reflected by the Christian writerTertullian (2nd century AD). He states that the general public blamed Christians for any general misfortune and after natural disasters would cry "Away with them to the lions!" This is the only reference from contemporaries mentioning Christians being thrown specifically to lions. Tertullian also wrote that Christians started avoiding theatres and circuses, which were associated with the place of their torture.[29]
"The Passion of St. Perpetua, St. Felicitas, and their Companions", a text which purports to be an eyewitness account, as written by Vibia Perpetua, of a group of Christians condemned todamnatio ad bestias at Carthage in AD 203, states that the men were required to dress in the robes of a priest of the Roman godSaturn, the women as priestesses ofCeres. They were brought back out in separate groups and first the men, then the women, exposed to a variety of wild beasts.
At the resistance of Perpetua, however, the tribune relented and the prisoners were allowed to enter wearing their own clothing.[30] The two young women, Perpetua and a slave girl Felicitas, were reserved as a finale to the executions to face a wild cow. Since it was thought that public nudity would not cast doubt on their fidelity, further degradation was added by not only fully exposing them to the beast but using one of their own sex rather than the usual male animal. The implication was that the women were shown as not being women enough to commit adultery.[31] After having all their clothing removed Perpetua and Felicitas were driven into the arena covered only in see-through netting. As this proved too much for the crowd, they were brought back to be clothed in plain loose garments before being sent in again to face the beast.[32]
This is also not the only instance of such treatment being used on Christian women, many also customarily subjected to other punishments and harsh tortures beforehand.[33] More generally though, in contrast to their clothed male counterparts, women were tied fully naked to stakes or pillars with their hands behind their backs.[34] Full body exposure of a female to a bull after being entirely stripped of all her clothing was one aspect of her shaming, the implications being that she was not regarded in the same way as attired male competitors and allowed to fight any "beast" but rendered helpless, and that being denuded in public would imply a charge of adultery on the part of the woman.[31]
Those who survived the first animal attacks were either brought back out for further exposure to the beasts or executed in public by agladiator.[35]
The persecution of Christians ceased by the 4th century AD. TheEdict of Milan (AD 313) gave them freedom of religion.
Roman laws, which are known to us through the Byzantine collections, such as theCode of Theodosius andCode of Justinian, defined which criminals could be thrown to beasts (or condemned by other means). They included:
The sentenced wasdeprived of civil rights; he could not write a will, and his property was confiscated.[44][45] Exception fromdamnatio ad bestias was given to military servants and their children.[36] Also, the law ofPetronius (Lex Petronia) of AD 61 forbade employers to send their slaves to be eaten by animals without a judicial verdict. Local governors were required to consult a Roman deputy before staging a fight of skilled gladiators against animals.[46]
The practice ofdamnatio ad bestias was abolished in Rome in AD 681.[4] It was used once after that in theByzantine Empire: in 1022, when several disgraced generals were arrested for plotting a conspiracy against EmperorBasil II, they were imprisoned and their property seized, but the royaleunuch who assisted them was thrown to lions.[47]
Represented by Siemiradzki is the ancient Roman staging of the myth at the Emperor Nero's wish. He ordered that a young fair Christian woman be put to death in the same way as part of the games at the amphitheatre.
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