His dress showed that he was one of the hermits who had vowed themselves to a life of prayer and self-denial, and who were greatly reverenced, even by the most thoughtless. The few who had previously seen him, told that he had come from the wilds of Asia on pilgrimage, to visit the shrines and keep his Christmas at Rome. They knew that he was a holy man-no more: it is not even certain what his name was. But his spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted zeal he had resolved to stop the cruelty, or die.
He had died, but not in vain. His work was done. The shock of such a death before their eyes turned the hearts of the people; they saw the wickedness and cruelty to which they had blindly surrendered themselves; and since the day when the hermit died in the Colis?um, there has never been another fight of gladiators. Not merely at Rome, but in every province of the empire, the custom was utterly abolished; and one habitual crime at least was wiped from the earth by the self- devotion of one humble, obscure, and nameless man.
- A Book of Golden Deeds
NOTES
① Arena.-So called from the sand [Lat. arena ] with which it was strown.
② Orpheus, fabled son of a king of Thrace, his mother being the chief of the muses. His skill as a poet and a musician was such that the rocks and the trees followed him.
③ Christian martyr.-The persecutions of the early Christians by the Roman Emperors took place between 64 and 303 A. D. There were eleven great persecutions, of three of which Rome was the chief scene. The Christian victims were frequently forced to encounter wild beasts in the arena, and were sooner or later torn to pieces by them.
④ Dacian, a native of Dacia in Hungary, which was subdued by the Emperor Trajan in 106 A. D. On the occasion of his triumph, upwards of 10, 000 captives were made to fight with one another in the circus, for the amusement of the people. The combats lasted 123 days. Trajan"s Column, erected by the Senate and people in 114 A. D., to commemorate his victories, is so perfect in its design and proportions, that it has been taken as a model for all succeeding erections of the same kind. His achievements are delineated in a series of bas- reliefs, continued in a spiral form from the base to the summit of the shaft.
⑤ Ye Goths.-Rome was taken and the empire was overthrown by different Gothic tribesin the fifth century, when the barbarous treatment to which Rome had subjected its captivesfrom these races was barbarously avenged. There is no reason, however, to believe that the Dacians subdued by Trajan were Goths; indeed, the Goths did not get possession of Dacia till 270 A. D.
QUESTIONS
Which was the grandest of the ancient amphitheatres? By whom was it built? What space does it cover? What number of spectators did it hold? Who gave the signal for the sports to begin? What was the nature of the opening sports? By what were the more harmless spectacles succeeded? What followed the fight of beasts with beasts? What was considered the choicest spectacle of this kind? Who then marched in, and greeted the emperor? How did the spectators indicate whether they wished a vanquished gladiator to be killed or spared? What put an end to these displays? When were they revived at Rome? Who suddenly interrupted the sports? What was his fate? What effect had his death?
