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A mother tigress and her two remaining cubs chase the horseman who seized one of her offspring.  Were ancient Romans who saw this mosaic impressed by his bravery?  Amused?  How does looking at this art this make you feel? 

The final destination for hundreds of thousands of large cats.  The Coliseum was dedicated in 80 BC with the death of 5000 animals in a single day.

A leopard dies on the sandy arena floor before 50,000 spectators.

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It was the Roman Empire that first reduced the Barbary to small numbers.  Roman Emperors sought to entertain the people and to reassure them that their civilization had control over nature.  

Individual lions could cost as much as three years earnings for a laborer.  Emperor Trajan once staged gladiatorial games for 123 consecutive days where 11,000 animals were killed.  Imagine other ways that money could have been spent to improve the lives of people.

Often criminals or slaves were condemned to face wild beasts. Lions were starved for three days prior to the event. If the lion was lucky enough to kill its prey and survive, its fate would still be to die by being put in the arena with the bestiarii, a man specially trained to kill wild animals.

A lucky few of the mighty cats were trained to put on a show.  They did tricks to amuse the public.  But the vast majority of them were thrust from the total darkness into the blinding sunlight of the arena to die on Roman steel.

The popularity of these cruel spectacles was such that, by the time they were outlawed, entire species were no longer to be found in their native habitat, all having been captured or driven away.  Either 5,000 or 9,000 animals were reported to have died in the dedication of the Coliseum in 80 BC; 11,000 died in the celebration of Trajan's conquest of Dacia.   That seems all the more incredible when you realize there are only 50,000 wild lions remaining in the entire world.

Over a million creatures died violently before cheering crowds, but it was also the silent plague of habitat loss that helped destroy the Kingdom of the Barbaries.  As more trees became timber for the Empire and the cool glades retreated before barren desert, the deer moved on and the lions could not find prey.  The Romans left many monuments.  You can still see the Coliseum where death came suddenly, and you can still see the empty plains where death came slowly.

How do you want to be remembered?  If a picture of you was painted for future scholars to see, what would you be doing in it?  Certainly not this!
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