History of Torture: The Games

The games continued from dawn to dusk and lasted over a period of many days. The imperial games would sometimes exhibit thousands of pairs of
gladiators in a sequence that could last for several months. The gladiatorial sports continued until the early 5th century AD. The Gladiatorial games
could last from ten to twelve days each year and accommodate Saturnalia, a festival celebrating the god Saturn. This was held at the time of the winter
solstice with a huge celebration of great feasting and merrymaking. Signs were made up to announce the great event and Heralds proclaimed it in the
streets. In the morning, spectators could see battles fought between wild beast. One might see bears, buffaloes, lion's elephants and rhinoceros, all
fighting against each other. After wounding each other for awhile the spectators would become bored so archers would shoot the exhausted animals
with arrows from the stands. By using these animals in such a way the Romans managed to wipe out thousands of animals and either captured or drove
away entire species. Now, the hippopotamuses were no longer seen in Egypt, lions disappeared from Assyria and elephants no longer lived in northern
Africa. Today the Colosseum stands in ruins and is still visited by thousands each year. No longer are the fearless gladiators performing and the wild
animals are safe from the once famous games. But, even after all this time some animals still remain at the Colosseum. It has become a habitation for
a large community of stray cats.