20. Chap. 20.-Who It Was That First Introduced Combats Of Lions At Rome, And Who Has Brought Together The Greatest Number Of Lions For That Purpose.

CHAP. 20.—WHO IT WAS THAT FIRST INTRODUCED COMBATS OF LIONS AT ROME, AND WHO HAS BROUGHT TOGETHER THE GREATEST NUMBER OF LIONS FOR THAT PURPOSE.

Q. Scævola, the son of P. Scævola, when he was curule ædile, was the first to exhibit at Rome a combat of a number of lions; and L. Sylla, who was afterwards Dictator, during his prætorship, gave the spectacle of a fight of one hundred lions with manes.[1] After him, Pompeius Magnus exhibited six hundred lions in the Circus, three hundred and fifteen of which had manes; Cæsar, the Dictator, exhibited four hundred.

1. Seneca gives an account of this exhibition; he says that the lions were turned loose into the Circus, and that spearmen were sent by king Bocchus, who killed them with darts. Sylla was prætor A.U.C. 661, B.C. 92.—B.