A puncture injury caused by the bite of what is believed to be a lion, on the pelvis of a man thought to have been a gladiator. — PLOS One/Reuters
In Rome’s Colosseum and other amphitheatres in cities scattered across the sprawling ancient Roman Empire, gladiatorial spectacles were not merely human-versus-human affairs. Gladiators also were pitted against animals.
While there are depictions of these contests in ancient mosaics and texts, actual forensic evidence has been elusive, until now. Scientists have determined that bite marks on the pelvis of a man buried in what is believed to be a cemetery for gladiators near the English city of York, known at the time as Eboracum, were made by a big cat, probably a lion.
