An Astounding Number of Animals Were Killed In the Roman Colosseum

Animals were more common than people in many events

(Public domain)

The emperor Commodus was infamous for his interest in the Colosseum. Against the better judgment of his peers and to the great horror of the Senate, the young emperor put himself into the arena as a gladiator. Some sources say that Commodus fought in the Colosseum on over 700 separate occasions. One of Commodus’s favorite activities was to fight and kill lions on the Colosseum. He would lay lions down at his feet to the adoration of the crowd. Commodus thought himself the Roman incarnation of Hercules, whose symbol was the mighty lion.

Commodus was an outlier for an emperor, but he was not an outlier in general. People killed animals in the Colosseum by the thousands. Many people know about the gladiators and the chariot races. When people think of the Colosseum, they often think of humans fighting humans in pitched gladiatorial combat. However, it was animals that were killed the most in the Colosseum. Animals were present almost every day for centuries at the Colosseum. Many times, these animals were forced to fight, and maim, and kill for the pleasure of a large crowd. Most people don’t realize just how many animals were killed in the Colosseum and the legacy of animal combat.