Early Christian Views on Gladiators and the Arena

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Direct teaching

...her; they even go so far as to attend that bloody spectacle abhorrent to both God and humans, where gladiators fight wild beasts or face each other in combat. Some of them indulge their fleshly desires with extreme greed, claiming that carnal things should be permitted to the carnal nature, while spiritual things are reserved for the spiritual. Moreover, certain individuals habitually corrupt the women they have taught this doctrine to, a fact often confessed by the women who have been led astray by some of them, upon their return to the Church of God, acknowledging this alongside their other errors. Additionally, some boldly and shamelessly, having formed passionate attachments to certain women, lead them away from their husbands and marry them. Others, who initially pretend to live modestly with these women as if they were sisters, are eventually exposed when the sister is found to be pregnant by her [supposed] brother.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Direct teaching

and to such a pitch do they go, that some of them do not even keep away from that bloody spectacle hateful both to God and men, in which gladiators either fight with wild beasts, or singly encounter one another.

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Direct teaching

It remains to speak about public shows. Since they have a stronger power to corrupt the mind, the wise should avoid them and guard against them completely. People say they were established to honor the gods. The performance of shows is a festival of Saturnus. The stage belongs to Father Liber. The Circensian games are thought to be dedicated to Neptunus. So now, anyone who takes part in these shows seems to have left the worship of God and crossed over to profane rites. But I prefer to speak about the thing itself rather than its origin. What is so terrible, what is so filthy, as the killing of a human being? That is why our life is protected by the strictest laws. That is why wars are hateful. Yet custom has found a way for a man to commit murder without war and without laws. And this becomes a pleasure to him, because he thinks he has punished guilt. But if being present at a killing means sharing in the guilt, and the spectator is involved in the same guilt as the one who did it, then in these slaughters of gladiators, the spectator is no less stained with blood than the one who sheds it. Nor can the person be free from the guilt of bloodshed if he wanted the blood to be poured

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

They also are not unlike to him who devour the wild beasts from the arena, besmeared and stained with blood, or fattened with the limbs or the entrails of men.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

...taken from other people's sufferings. He is also far from taking pleasure in earthly enjoyments and spectacles, because he has shown a noble contempt for the rewards offered in this world, even though they are divine.

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

The circus, in truth, is considered more innocent, but there is greater madness in this, since the minds of the spectators are transported with such great madness, that they not only break out into revilings, but often rise to strifes, and battles, and contentions.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

And yet they call these sports in which human blood is shed.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

...tor shows, so that we do not become partners in or supporters of murder. Nor may we watch the other spectacles either, so that our eyes and ears are not defiled by taking part in the songs and words sung there. For if anyone wants to speak of cannibalism, in those spectacles the children of Thyestes and Tereus are eaten. And as for adultery, both among men and among the gods, whom they praise in polished language for honor and prizes, this is made the subject of their dramas. But far be it from Christians even to imagine such deeds. Among them, temperance lives, self-control is practiced, monogamy is observed, chastity is protected, wickedness is destroyed, sin is rooted out, righteousness is practiced, law is administered, worship is performed, and God is acknowledged. Truth rules, grace guards, peace protects them, the holy word guides, wisdom teaches, life leads, and God reigns. Therefore, although we have much to say about our way of life and the commands of God, the maker of all creation, we think that for now we have reminded you enough to lead you to examine these things, especially since you can now read our writings for yourself. So, as you have been eager to gain knowl

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

The Instructor, then, will not lead us to public shows. It would not be wrong to call the racecourse and the theater the seat of plagues. For there was evil plotting against the Just One, Acts 3:14, and therefore the assembly gathered against Him is cursed. These gatherings are full of confusion and wrongdoing. These excuses for coming together cause disorder, as men and women mix together for the sake of looking at one another. In this way, the gathering has already shown itself to be bad. For when the eye is lustful, desires grow hot. Eyes that get used to looking boldly and shamelessly at their neighbors during leisure stir up sexual desires. Therefore, spectacles and plays that are full of vulgarity and endless gossip must be forbidden. For what shameful act is not shown in the theaters? And what shameless word is not brought out by the clowns? Those who take pleasure in the evil found in these things impress clear images of it on themselves at home. On the other hand, those who are resistant to these things and are not affected by them will never stumble when it comes to pleasures of luxury.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

What else is found in the Circus games except foolishness, emptiness, and madness? People's souls are swept away into wild excitement, with as much force as the chariot races themselves are driven there. So those who come to watch the show become even more of a show themselves, when they begin to shout, lose control with excitement, and jump up from their seats. Therefore, all shows ought to be avoided. This is not only so that no vice may take root in our hearts, which ought to be calm and peaceful, but also so that the regular enjoyment of any pleasure may not soften and capture us, and turn us away from God and from good works. For the celebration of the games is a festival in honor of the gods, since they were established because of their birthdays or the dedication of new temples. At first, the hunts, which are called shows, were held in honor of Saturnus, and the stage games in honor of Liber, but the Circus games in honor of Neptune. Little by little, however, the same honor began to be given to the other gods also, and separate games were dedicated to their names, as Sisinnius Capito teaches in his book on the games. Therefore, if anyone is present at the shows where people

Tertullian, De Spectaculis (On the Shows) Background

So as we went on from the origin of the Ludi to the circus games, we shall now direct our course thence to those of the theatre, beginning with the place of exhibition.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

Avoid also indecent spectacles: I mean the theatres and the pomps of the heathens;

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

for cruel contests for glory which have been so fatal are not sport.

Tatian, Address to the Greeks Supporting witness

... seats, and the boxers meet in single combat for no reason at all. Nor does anyone go down into the arena to help. Do exhibitions like these bring you honor? He who is chief among you collects a legion of blood-stained murderers, agreeing to support them. And these ruffians are sent out by him, and you gather at the spectacle to be judges, partly of the wickedness of the one who arranges it, and partly of that of the men who take part in the combat. And the man who misses the murderous spectacle is grieved, because he was not destined to be a spectator of wicked and impious and abominable deeds. You slaughter animals to eat their flesh, and you buy men to provide a cannibal banquet for the soul, feeding it with the most impious bloodshedding. The robber commits murder for the sake of plunder, but the rich man buys gladiators for the sake of their being killed.

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

...ies themselves, you will see a crowd more filled with sadness than any wilderness. The gladiatorial games are prepared so that blood may delight the cruel desires of those who watch. The body is built up with richer food, and the strong frame of the limbs is filled out with flesh and muscle, so that the miserable man, fattened for punishment, may die a more painful death. A man is killed so that another man may be pleased, and the skill of killing well becomes practice and an art. Crime is not only committed, but taught. What could be called more inhuman? What more disgusting? Men train themselves to gain the power to murder, and their glory is in succeeding at murder. What kind of situation is this, I ask you, and what can it be like, when men whom no one has condemned offer themselves to wild beasts—men of mature age, handsome enough in appearance, dressed in expensive clothing? While still alive, they are adorned for a willing death. Miserable men, they take pride in their own misery. They fight with beasts, not because of crime, but because of madness. Fathers watch their own sons. A brother is in the arena, and his sister is nearby. And although a greater display of show in

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Direct teaching

... in honor of Jupiter the Highest, a master dragged a very worthless slave through the middle of the arena after beating him with rods, and afterward punished him on the cross, as was customary. Then, after the games were over and not long after the races had ended, a plague began to trouble the state. Each day brought some new evil worse than the one before, and the people were dying in crowds. In a dream, Jupiter told a certain country man, unknown because of his low condition, that he should go to the consuls and tell them that the dancer had displeased him, and that it would be better for the state if the honor due to the games were given to them and they were celebrated again with careful attention. But the man completely neglected to do this, either because he thought it was an empty dream and that those he told would not believe him, or because, remembering his natural low position, he avoided and feared approaching men of such great power. So Jupiter became hostile to the man for delaying, and as punishment laid on him the death of his sons. Afterward, he threatened the man himself with death unless he went and reported his displeasure about the dancer. The man, overcome

Tertullian, De Spectaculis (On the Shows) Direct teaching

At any rate, gladiators not chargeable with crime are offered in sale for the games, that they may become the victims of the public pleasure.

Tatian, Address to the Greeks Direct teaching

The robber commits murder for the sake of plunder, but the rich man purchases gladiators for the sake of their being killed.

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

But if to be present at homicide implies a consciousness of guilt, and the spectator is involved in the same guilt as the perpetrator, then in these slaughters of gladiators, he who is a spectator is no less sprinkled with blood than he who sheds it;

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

...oman, a Gallic man and a Gallic woman. And to this day, Jupiter Latiaris is worshipped by them with murder. And, what is worthy of the son of Saturn, he is gorged with the blood of an evil and criminal man. I believe that he himself taught Catiline to conspire under a compact of blood, and Bellona to steep her sacred rites with a draught of human gore, and taught men to heal epilepsy with the blood of a man, that is, with a worse disease. They also are not unlike him who devour the wild beasts from the arena, besmeared and stained with blood, or fattened with the limbs or entrails of men. To us it is not lawful either to see or to hear of homicide. And so much do we shrink from human blood, that we do not use the blood even of eatable animals in our food.

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

...shudder at the madness of the people brawling among themselves? Or at the teaching of murder in the gladiatorial games? In the scenic games also the madness is not less, but the debauchery is more prolonged. For now a mimic either expounds or shows forth adulteries; now a nerveless player, while he feigns lust, suggests it. The same actor disgraces your gods by attributing to them adulteries, sighs, and hatreds. The same actor provokes your tears with pretended sufferings, with vain gestures and expressions. Thus you demand murder in fact, while you weep at it in fiction.

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness

...his word again and again—that he was divine who, being irritated because a slave was led across the circus, about to suffer and be punished as he deserved, was set on fire with anger and prepared to take revenge? For if the slave was guilty and deserved to be punished with that penalty, why should Jupiter have been moved with any anger when nothing unjust was being done—indeed, when a guilty man was being punished, as was right? But if he was free from guilt and not deserving of punishment at all, Jupiter himself was the cause of the dancer's corrupting the games. For when he could have helped him, he gave him no help. Indeed, he both wanted to allow what he disapproved of and to demand from others the penalty for what he had permitted. Why then did he complain and declare that he was wronged in the case of that dancer, because he was led through the middle of the circus to suffer the cross, with his back torn by rods and whips?

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...uently urged us to despise earthly things and to look up to heaven, they still do not despise these public spectacles. Therefore they both delight in them and gladly attend them. Yet since these are the greatest incitement to vices, and have a very powerful tendency to corrupt our minds, they ought to be taken away from us. For they not only do nothing to help a happy life, but even bring the greatest harm. For the man who counts it a pleasure that a man, though justly condemned, should be killed in his sight, pollutes his conscience as much as if he were both a spectator of and a partner in a murder committed in secret. And yet they call these things sports, in which human blood is shed. So far has the feeling of humanity departed from men, that when they destroy the lives of men, they think they are amusing themselves with sport, being more guilty than all those whose shedding of blood they count as a pleasure. I ask, then, whether they can be just and pious men when they see men placed under the stroke of death and begging for mercy, and not only allow them to be put to death, but even demand it, and give cruel and inhuman votes for their death, not satisfied with wounds and

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

I ask now whether they can be just and pious men, who, when they see men placed under the stroke of death, and entreating mercy, not only suffer them to be put to death, but also demand it, and give cruel and inhuman votes for their death, not being satiated with wounds nor contented with bloodshed.

Clement of Rome, Second Epistle (attributed) Direct teaching

... corruptible contest, if he is found acting unfairly, is taken away, whipped, and thrown out of the arena. What then do you think? If someone does anything shameful in the incorruptible contest, what will he have to endure? For about those who do not keep the seal unbroken, Scripture says, "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh." Isaiah 66:24

Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Direct teaching

...ot just to remind you of your duty, but also to remind ourselves. For we are struggling in the same arena, and the same conflict is assigned to both of us. Therefore, let us give up vain and fruitless cares and approach the glorious and venerable rule of our holy calling. Let us focus on what is good, pleasing, and acceptable in the sight of Him who formed us. Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Let us turn to every age that has passed and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all who would be converted to Him. Noah preached repentance, and as many as listened to him were saved. Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites; but they, repenting of their sins, appeased God by prayer and obtained salvation, even though they were aliens to the covenant of God.

Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen Direct teaching

Let us then openly strip for the contest, and nobly strive in the arena of truth, the holy Word being the judge, and the Lord of the universe prescribing the contest.

Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Supporting witness

For we are struggling on the same arena, and the same conflict is assigned to both of us.

Polycarp, The Martyrdom of Polycarp Supporting witness

And, in like manner, those who were condemned to the wild beasts endured dreadful tortures, being stretched out upon beds full of spikes, and subjected to various other kinds of torments, in order that, if it were possible, the tyrant might, by their lingering tortures, lead them to a denial [of Christ].

Ignatius, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Long Version) Supporting witness

For, on hearing that I came bound from Syria for the sake of Christ, our common hope, trusting through your prayers to be permitted to fight with beasts at Rome, that so by martyrdom I may indeed become the disciple of Him “who gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God,” [ye hastened to see me].

1 Timothy 6:12 Background

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 Corinthians 4:9 Background

For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.

2 Timothy 2:5 Background

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

Justin Martyr, The Martyrdom of Justin Martyr Direct teaching

Then the prefect Rusticus said to Chariton, “Tell me more, Chariton, are you also a Christian?” Chariton replied, “I am a Christian by the command of God.” Rusticus the prefect asked the woman Charito, “What do you say, Charito?” Charito answered, “I am a Christian by the grace of God.” Rusticus asked Euelpistus, “And what about you?” Euelpistus, a servant of Caesar, responded, “I too am a Christian, having been freed by Christ; and by the grace of Christ, I share the same hope.” Rusticus the prefect asked Hierax, “And you, are you a Christian?” Hierax answered, “Yes, I am a Christian, for I revere and worship the same God.” Rusticus the prefect asked, “Did Justin make you Christians?” Hierax replied, “I was a Christian, and will be a Christian.” Then Pæon stood up and said, “I too am a Christian.” Rusticus the prefect asked, “Who taught you?” Pæon replied, “From our parents, we received this good confession.” Euelpistus said, “I willingly heard the words of Justin. But I also learned to be a Christian from my parents.” Rusticus the prefect asked, “Where are your parents?” Euelpistus replied, “In Cappadocia.” Rusticus asked Hierax, “Where are your parents?” And he answered, “Christ

Ignatius, The Martyrdom of Ignatius Direct teaching

...ter. There, he was immediately thrown in, according to Caesar's earlier command, because the public spectacles were about to end (for it was considered a solemn day, the thirteenth in the Roman calendar, when more people than usual would gather). He was thus cast to the wild beasts near the temple, so that the desire of the holy martyr Ignatius would be fulfilled, according to what is written, “The desire of the righteous is acceptable [to God].” This was intended so he would not be a burden to any of the brothers by the gathering of his remains, just as he had wished in advance in his letter. Only the harder parts of his holy remains were left, which were taken to Antioch and wrapped in linen, regarded as an invaluable treasure left to the holy Church by the grace in the martyr.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...ne in time of peace, and in time of trouble marked for attack with the title of his bishop's office publicly applied to him; when he has so often been called for in the circus to be thrown to the lions; when in the amphitheater he has been honored by the witness of divine condescension; even in these very days in which I have written this letter to you, because of the sacrifices that the people were commanded by public edict to perform, he has again been demanded in the circus for the lions by the shouting of the crowd. When such a man, dearest brother, is clearly attacked by some desperate and reckless men, and by those who have their place outside the Church, it is clear who is attacking him. It is certainly not Christ, who either appoints or protects His priests. It is the one who, as the adversary of Christ and the enemy of His Church, persecutes the ruler of the Church with his malice for this purpose: that when the pilot has been removed, he may rage more cruelly and more violently for the scattering of the Church.

Ignatius, The Martyrdom of Ignatius Direct teaching

... and setting sail from Smyrna (since Christophorus was urged by the soldiers to hurry to the public spectacles in the great city of Rome, in order to be offered to the wild beasts in front of the Roman people, and thereby achieve the crown for which he strived), he then landed at Troas. From there, he traveled to Neapolis and journeyed on foot through Philippi in Macedonia to that part of Epirus near Epidamnus. Finding a ship at a seaport, he sailed across the Adriatic Sea, and upon entering the Tyrrhenian Sea, he passed by various islands and cities. When Puteoli came into view, he was eager to disembark there, longing to walk in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. However, a violent wind prevented him, driving the ship swiftly forward; thus, he only expressed his happiness over the love of the brethren there as he sailed by. Continuing with favorable winds, we were reluctantly hurried on in a day and a night, mourning the impending departure of this righteous man from us. But for him, this was exactly as he wished, as he was eager to leave this world quickly to reach the Lord whom he loved. Arriving at the Roman harbor as the unholy games were nearing their end, the soldiers gr

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

I. If any Christian, on account of the name of Christ, and love and faith towards God, be condemned by the ungodly to the games, to the beasts, or to the mines, do not overlook him;

Justin Martyr, The Martyrdom of Justin Martyr Supporting witness

Having come together, offer sacrifice with one accord to the gods.” Justin said, “No right-thinking person falls away from piety to impiety.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Unless ye obey, ye shall be mercilessly punished.” Justin said, “Through prayer we can be saved on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even when we have been punished, because this shall become to us salvation and confidence at the more fearful and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and Saviour.” Thus also said the other martyrs: “Do what you will, for we are Christians, and do not sacrifice to idols.”

Ignatius, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Short Version) Supporting witness

For, on hearing that I came bound from Syria for the common name and hope, trusting through your prayers to be permitted to fight with beasts at Rome, that so by martyrdom I may indeed become the disciple of Him “who gave Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God,” [ye hastened to see me].

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

so often asked for in the circus for the lions;