This lion is in no danger of being fed to a Christian -- although it's likely this arena saw human vs. beast action in the late 3rd century. Emperor Diocletian conducted the largest (and only empire-wide) persecution of the Christians around then. The Pope at the time was Caius. Both were from the same extended family in Split (Dalmatia) ! A generation after those two, Christianity became the official religion of Rome. With the resulting dearth of victims, gladiators began killing animals and each other. Eventually prisoners sentenced to death fought each other. (In concussion, I might add that I write these words on a Super bowl Sunday from a country which would never conduct such spectacle. Today's Saints are no longer martyrs.) After Augustus leveled Pula, an early arena was constructed of wood in 14 ACE. This was replaced by a successively enlarged stone building completed in 81 ACE. Given the space required, it was built outside the walls on the road that led (where else) to Rome.
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