"We must do it by the magic of imagination," said Mr. George.
"Only," continued Rollo, "the things that they did down in the arena were so dreadful that we could not bear to look at them."
"True," said Mr. George. "The spectacles must have been very dreadful, indeed."
"Such as when the lions and tigers came out to tear and devour the poor Christians," said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George; "but generally, I suppose, when wild beasts and men were brought out together on the arena, it was the beasts that were killed, and not the men. It was a combat, and I suppose that the men were usually victorious. It was the spectacle of the fury of the combat, and of the bravery which the men displayed, and of the terrible danger that they were often exposed to, that so excited and pleased the spectators."
"I should not have thought that they could have found any men that would have been willing to fight the beasts," said Rollo.
"Perhaps the men were not willing," replied Mr. George, "but were compelled to fight them. Indeed, I suppose that they were generally prisoners of war or criminals. The generals used to bring home a great many prisoners of war from the different countries that they conquered, and these men were trained in Rome, and in other great cities, to fight on the arena, either with wild beasts, or with one another. They were called _gladiators_. There is a statue of one, wounded and dying, somewhere here in Rome."
"We _shall_ see it, undoubtedly," said Mr. George. "It is one of the most celebrated statues in the world. It is called the _Dying Gladiator_. I presume the sculptor of it made it from his recollections of the posture and expression of face which were witnessed in the case of real gladiators in the arena, when they had been mortally wounded, and were sinking down to die."
"We certainly will," rejoined Mr. George. "It is celebrated all over the world. Byron wrote a very fine stanza describing it."
"I don't remember it all," said Mr. George. "It was something about his sinking down upon the ground, leaning upon his hand, and the expression of his face showed, though he yielded to death, he conquered and triumphed over the pain. Then there is something about his wife and children, far away in Dacia, his native land, where he had been captured in fighting to protect them, and brought to Rome to fight and die in the Coliseum, to make amusement for the Roman populace."