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Lyon: The Roman Amphitheater
Inscription from the Roman amphitheater at Lyon (Musée de la civilisation Gallo-Romain).
Little
remains today of the Roman amphitheater at Lyon, which lay south of the
Fourviere, across the Saône. At the theater's opening in AD 19 a
dedication was made to Augustus by the priest C.F. Rufus. This
inscription is now displayed along with other remains of the structure
at the Musée de la civilisation Gallo-Romain The
amphitheater was later modified during the reign of Hadrian (AD
117-138).
In addition to the normal gladitorial contests, after
AD 177 the amphitheater at Lugdunum was used for persecutions and
executions of Christians. These gruesome events are described in a
passage by the 4th century historian Eusebius:
"... Maturus,
Sanctus, and Blandina were led into the amphitheater to the wild
beasts... they bore the strokes of the scourge usually inflicted there,
the draggings and lacerations of the beasts, and all the madness of the
people...cried for and demanded; and last of all the iron chair, upon
which their bodies were roasted, while the fumes of their own flesh
ascended to annoy them. The tormentors did not cease even then,
but continued to rage so much the more, intending if possible to
conquer their perseverence..." (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History,1; ca. AD 325).
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