The Cirei were buildings oblong in shape, used for public games, races, and beast-fights. The Theatra were edifices designed for dramatic exhibitions: the Amphitheatra (double theatres, buildings in an oval form) served for gladiatorial shows and the fighting of wild animals. That which was erected by the Emperor Titus, and of which there still exists a splendid ruin, was called the Coliseum, from a colossal statue of Nero that stood near it. With an excess of luxury, perfumed liquids were conveyed in secret tubes round these immense structures, and diffused over the spectators, sometimes from the statues which adorned the interior. In the arena which formed the centre of the amphitheatres, the early Christians often endured martyrdom by being exposed to ravenous beasts.
In modern Rome there are various things to excite the curiosity of the stranger, but in my observations I could only see four elements predominating above everything, monks, nuns, priests and beggars. They form a continued procession all day long of the most spectacular carnival that could be seen in any of the Babylons of the world.
And now while in Rome, we might ask the question: Who founded the church at Rome? The question is equally interesting, if not important to the Protestant and to Catholic. The Romish church assigns the honour to Peter, and on this grounds an argument in favour of the claims of the Papacy. But strict search in and about all the obtainable sources of knowledge, it does give no sufficient reason for believing that Peter was ever even so much as within the walls of Rome. Thus, by all inspired documents there is one title clear left to Pope and his scheme, "unaccountable falsifier." As an ordained High Priest in the Greek Orthodox Church, I have been for many years studied in this particular subject. The Libraries in Mount Athos gave me all the opportunities that the high and exalted position, which I held, could afford, to find the truth concerning the claims of the Pope. The Fathers of the Church, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostomus, and all the host of Ecclesiastical authorities agree unanimously that the Lord Jesus never intended to concede any right of supremacy, to Peter, over the other apostles. Otherwise He (Jesus) would never have said those wonderful words (Matt. 20, 25, etc.), and Peter himself disclaiming the assertions of the Papacy (Pet. 1, 5, 3, etc.). And it is certain that there is no instance on record of the apostle's (Peter) having ever claimed or exercised this supposed power, but on the contrary, he is oftener than once represented as submitting to an exercise of power upon the part of others, as when, for instance, he went forth as a messenger from the apostles assembled in Jerusalem to the Christians in Samaria, and when he received a rebuke from Paul. Now as a matter of fact, if Peter was ever Great, that was, when he repented for denying his Master. Repentance, therefore, is the only hope left for the Pope, if he ever expects to hear the blessed voice "Feed my sheep."