The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1921-10-01

things the Roman would aver they did
better ''in those good old times, And
ne would tell US how he was present at
that inaugural Venatio whereat 40 AZ
rican elephants taken by Metellus were
turned into the circus and belabored to
death as an object lesson to the citizens
OF Rome whose soldiers, unaccustomed
to such bulky foes in battle, had in
consequence wavered and been routed
by the Carthaginians.
splendid sight this first venatio |!
Quite new excitement, moreover. to
sit in safety and enjoy such LAVISH
butchery at your ease! And SO the
fashion grew and spread--more cir
cuses and more beasts-all kinds, from
everywhere. Senators and Caesars Wed
in their munifcent gifts of animal life
Creatures to be torn, manned and hid
eously done 10 death--in order TO catch
the favor OF voting populace. Thus
SIX hundred years after the founding OF
ancient Rome the choicest specimens Of
fauna, such as are nowadays reserved
Tor our ZOOS. were driven into the
arena pell rnell--elephants, rhinoceroses.
tigers, lions, panthers and "grizzlies"
from the almost UNEMPLOYED forests Of
the north--there to fight in CHASTITY
struggle for brief survival Of tho 1T
test. Tanner beasts also-the ostrich.
the ape and even the shy gazelle---were
pitted against crocodiles, leopards and
serpehts in unequal contests which gave
rise to scenes fraught with exquisite
humor in the opinion of our friends OF
those first centuries A. d.
Let us get at some figures in order
to show with what just scorn Titus or
Quintus Cor whatever the name OF some
good citizen might be, could he but
come to life AGAIN. would condemn n.
modern circus. Why, Sulla. for instance,
mentions quite casually zone hundred
Libyan lions" (the paler variety, once
SO common, but now so rarely seen in
northern Africa) as being slaughtered
In the arena in one single day. Pom
pey. with characteristic ostentation.
however, lnvished no less than six hun
dred In order to stand welr' with the
people! While Caesar, naturally desir-
Gus of going one better than his rival,
added to his gift of four hundred lions
like number OF elephants and one
giraffe. With the increasing passion
new and more lavish circuses were
built, and Cesar, with tender solicit
tude for human life which strikes one
as almost comic. introduced--for greater
safety--a canal between the audience
snd the arena of the Circus Maxirnus, q
structure which, by the way. was calcu-
lated to seat $500 spectators.
Then, Domitius Ahenobarbus intro
duced an innovation, and instead of pit
ting beast against beast hundred
bears were hunted by black slaves Au-
gustus displayed his generosity IN the
sacrifice OF $500 wild beasts Of various
kinds for few days entertainment
while at later date Heliogabalus. liv-
Ing up to his well earned reputation for
eccentricity, declared that the trumpet
ing, believing and roaring OF a thousand
beasts In their death throes was ex-
quisitely soothing to his ears. TO the
Emperor Commodus is due the credit of
having introduced some skill into the
performance at the Roman circuses
Himself daring fighter, he would de-
scend into the arena and give battle
somewhat after the fashion of the mod
ern toreador. and Senators and mobiles
followed his example TO the great edlli-
cation Of the people.
Long centuries after the Frankish
kings tried TO revive the sport on similar
lines. only the beasts were muzzled and
the thing did not catch on. The closest
resemblance that has come through 10
our days Is the Spanish bulfght, as also
the contests held at the courts of some
OF the Hindu rajahs. But the feats Of
diving elephants. dancing dogs, per-
forming cats and the like would. IN tn.
estimation OF our earliest conquerors.
be voted Every small beer odd
that Il should have taken us such a
long time to arrive at the same conclu-
sion. we who are SO educated" so
humane and so "cultured"l