re: Could You Stomach the Horrors of 'Halftime' in Ancient Rome?

Posted on 2/7/16 at 6:41 am to MadDoggyStyle

Posted by MadDoggyStyle

Member since Feb 2012

3857 posts

Posted on 2/7/16 at 6:41 am to MadDoggyStyle

quote:
Early Christians were among the most popular victims in ludi meridiani. The emperors who condemned these men, women and children to public death by beasts did so with the obvious hope that the spectacle would be so horrifying and humiliating that it would discourage any other Romans from converting to Christianity. Little did they realize that the tales of brave Christians facing certain death with grace, power and humility made them some of the earliest martyr stories. Nor could they have imagined that these oft-repeated narratives would then serve as invaluable tools to drive more people toward the Christian faith for centuries to come.

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Posted by fr33manator

Baton Rouge

Member since Oct 2010

125004 posts

Posted on 2/7/16 at 9:16 am to MadDoggyStyle

quote:
Early Christians were among the most popular victims in ludi meridiani. The emperors who condemned these men, women and children to public death by beasts did so with the obvious hope that the spectacle would be so horrifying and humiliating that it would discourage any other Romans from converting to Christianity. Little did they realize that the tales of brave Christians facing certain death with grace, power and humility made them some of the earliest martyr stories. Nor could they have imagined that these oft-repeated narratives would then serve as invaluable tools to drive more people toward the Christian faith for centuries to come.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall that this was debunked as a myth, since no credible accounts of Christians being tortured in the colosseum simply for their beliefs had been found.

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Posted by bencoleman