permafrost Loc: Minnesota

Did Romans sometimes get hit by stray arrows/spears at the Colosseum, the way people get hit by foul balls at baseball games today?
Worse than that!!!

Foul tigers. One time the show was supposed to be gladiators fighting tigers in the arena. The walls around the Coliseum arena were twelve feet high and smooth marble to prevent tigers from jumping into the bleachers. Then one day a tiger jumped over the twelve foot wall and into the crowd. After that, they raised the marble walls to twenty feet high.

Roman citizens could get pretty weird at the Coliseum. One time the soldiers were herding a mob of Christian s***es down a hallway entrance to the arena full of hungry lions. Creepy, sadistic Roman citizens liked to stand in the hallway and taunt the Christians on their way to their gruesome deaths.

Understandably, the Christians were d**gging their heels and holding back. As the soldiers were pushing and shoving from the rear of the mob, the Roman citizens lining the hallway got swept up in the crowd, forced into the arena, and then the soldierslocked the doors. The unlucky Roman civilians ran over to the Emperor's box seat and said, “Help! We're citizens! Get us out of here pronto!!” Reportedly, the Roman Emperor ignored their pleas.

The “Games” was often paid for by wealthy Romans (once, the fabulously wealthy tailor of Roman officer's uniforms) who were running for the Senate.

The schedule of Games events were, of course, limited by the sponsors budget. Wild animals were expensive. S***es were cheap. Roman soldiers could be hired at a day rate

By the time of the Late Empire, the Games were often nothing more than armed soldiers chasing unarmed victims around and hacking them to death.

If you afford an upgrade, you might stage the old tried and true crowd pleaser “Centurions vs. barbarians” re-enactments.

So the event was supposed to be well armed and armored Centurions with shields vs. punkass barbarians in loin cloths armed with stone throwing slingshots.

The sponsor did not hire enough soldiers to end it quickly. Facing certain death, the “barbarians” started using their slings to target the crowd. Roman citizens were struck and k**led.

Big dog

Ahhh, the good old days !!

BigJim

Reportedly Caligula once ran the games where a group of old fat gladiators marched into the arena. Some people in the crowd started booing. This was anticipated; soldiers were in the stands and pulled out those booing loudest. They were then given swords and told to fight the old gladiators, who promptly made mincemeat of them.

permafrost Loc: Minnesota

serves them right...