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Over 1,000 years after Rome's fall, the armies of the French emperor Napoleon descend on the city. Napoleon's forces have already battled their way through Europe, take Rome seems an afterthought. By this time it's a backwater, but for Napoleon, it has an almost religious significance. He claims he is the spiritual descendant of the Roman emperors. He has himself painted wearing the Roman crown of laurels as if Rome still rules the world. His troops march unopposed into the city. It's like walking into a ghost town.
They find the frightened Romans huddling among the ruins of the ancient city. Crumbling palaces and arches still seem to echo the magnificent triumphs they were built to celebrate. Goats and cattle graze where thousands once thronged the streets. In 70 AD, when the emperor Vespasian started building the massive Colosseum. Rome was 10 times larger than the city Napoleon found. Vespasian wanted the great theater for the gory spectacles Romans so loved. The scale of the Roman games, like the scale of Rome itself, was staggering. The Colosseum had seating for 45,000 and standing room for 20,000 more. In one series of games, 5,000 people and 11,000 animals were slaughtered. Nothing in Hollywood could compare with this gruesome splatterfest. The blood and brutality were all too real and Romans were addicted to it. "When he saw the blood, rather than turned away, he fixed his eyes on the scene and took in all its frenzy. He reveled in the wickedness of the fighting and grew intoxicated with the bloodshed. When he left the arena, he took with him a sick mind which left him no peace until he came back again." St. Augustine
They did get excited, watching gladiators kill one another. I'm not denying that. But you know what? So do we. I think for example of the brouhaha over Mike Tyson. (Right) What Mike Tyson did when he bit was Evander Holyfield's ear. That would have been applauded in the Roman arena. That's great. That's what you're supposed to do. In fact you're supposed to rip the ear off, and, and march around the arena with (it) in your mouth. That's what you're supposed to do.
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