ANIMAL SCIRCUS

ITALY, 80

HUNTING LEGION

Given the consumption that circus games made of animals of all kinds, some soldiers of the Roman legion were specially assigned to capture wild animals wherever they went.
It was necessary to provide, especially in lions, wild animals favorites of the Roman public. But the variety of animals was important, from the giraffe to the rabbit via the ostrich and a whole panoply of big cats, the interest of the public being mainly linked to the combativeness of the critters.

ARENA VOLUNTEERS

The fight against animals was not always a punishment. Gladiators could be volunteers. It was better to have a good hunting experience to risk it but the salary was interesting for the time.

CHRISTIAN MARTYRS

Contrary to what one might think, the Christians delivered to the wild animals did not benefit from a specific regime, other victims suffered the same fate for various reasons.

NAUMACHIA

The nautical shows involved the flooding of the arena for the reenactment of naval battles. They required complex hydraulic systems to fill the gigantic basin. For the inauguration of the Colosseum, Titus had two Naumachies given, involving more than three thousand men in the reconstruction of a battle between Athens and Syracuse.