Featured Gladiators fighting lions

Bite marks on York skeleton reveal first evidence of ‘gladiators’ fighting lions.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...l-first-evidence-of-gladiators-fighting-lions

Bite marks from a lion on a man’s skeleton, excavated from a 1,800-year-old cemetery on the outskirts of York, provide the first physical evidence of human-animal combat in the Roman empire, new research claims.

While clashes between combatants, big cats and bears are described and depicted in ancient texts and mosaics, there had previously been no convincing proof from human remains to confirm that these skirmishes formed part of Roman entertainment.


Prof Tim Thompson, an anthropologist and first author on the study at Maynooth University in Ireland, said: “This is the first time we have physical evidence for gladiators fighting, or being involved in a spectacle, with big cats like lions in the Roman empire.”




Excavations at the Driffield Terrace burial site, near York city centre, began more than 20 years ago and uncovered about 80 decapitated skeletons. Most belonged to well-built young men and bore signs of brutal violence, leading experts to suspect they had uncovered a gladiator graveyard.

 

I've not heard of remains of lions being found, but I suppose they did not have lion cemeteries.
Probably the carcasses were eaten by the others or staff
The Roman Empire covered North Africa, so they probably transported them from there.


I took the grandkids to the zoo/safari park about 40 miles away.

Before we got to the enclosure, a male lion roared so loud it made my chest cavity resonate, I went dizzy.

I certainly would not like to take one on, 4 feet tall, 8 feet long and around 550 pounds.

I'd rather fight 3 Icelandic fishermen

 

Maybe a pack of Buzzes would fare better