Amaris is taking World History this year, and showed me a quote in her history book which I kept thinking about as I was studying mercy for the previous post. Seneca was a Roman soldier, but even he was appalled at the depths his country had sunk to – to be entertained by killing.

“I chanced to stop in a midday show [of gladiators], expecting fun, wit, and some relaxation, when men’s eyes take respite from the slaughter of their fellow men. It was just the reverse. The preceding combats were merciful by comparison; now all the trifling is put aside and it is pure murder…” (Quoted in F.F. Bruce,
New Testament History, p.42) 

He goes on to describe the spectators’ enthusiasm for the sport, and demand for continuous action.

This bothered me. We attribute the fall of Rome to the immorality of their society, and point at their…