On the Coliseum

I have been reading for some days with incomparable pleasure The Martyrs of the Coliseum, or The Historical Records of the Great Amphitheater of Ancient Rome, penned by Father A. J. O'Reilly, D.D. Unlike so many of my companions, I have never seen this material triumph of the Roman Empire with my own eyes, yet faced with the poetic entreaties of Fr. O'Reilly, a priest of nineteenth century Toronto, few souls could remain unmoved:

Our first hour in the Coliseum was one of regret. The present contributed more than the past to cast a gloom over our thoughts. The terrible scenes that passed in that arena, the wholesale slaughter of innocent victims, the inhuman shout that consigned the brave gladiator to his doom, the horrors of its bloodshed, made it well called by Tertullian a place without mercy; yet the curse of paganism, that brooded over this temple of the furies, steeled the hearts of the spectators, and brought on demoniac infatuation and blindness. This picture was painful, but another thought gave sorrow. Thousands that pour into the Coliseum are strangers to the sacred reminiscences that hang around its hallowed ruins. That spirit of infidelity which now-a-days robs literature of every sentiment of religion, will not permit history to give the most sacred and solemn part of its records. Irreligious guide-books are in the hands of every traveller, books that devote whole pages to the description of the infamous and bloody practices of paganism, but dare not give one paragraph, or even make an allusion, to the sufferings of the martyrs. A description is given of the pagan monument, but no mention is made of its connection with the first ages of the Church. The educated Christian sees more in the Coliseum than imperishable walls, or sublime designs of architecture, shadowed forth in the gigantic remnants of the mouldering ruin : he sees before him a monument of that alone which was great and noble in the past-the triumph of his faith. He remembers that every niche of that arena has been dyed with the blood of martyrs. He feels that their triumph is his own. After the lapse of seventeen hundred years he is united with them in the unbroken chain of communion, and at the same moment that he is startled with the majesty and magnificence of the ruin, he kneels to kiss the rude cross that is raised within its precincts to commemorate the greatest battlefield of the followers of the Crucified.

Over the next four-hundred pages, one is swept up by a narrative that continues in this grand style, touched by the holy enthusiasm of the author, and astounded by the great miracles which Our Savior sent by means of His Saints to glorify the early Church. It is curious, indeed, that so many of these heroes of God, with the possible exception of St. Ignatius, are so little known in the Church. Fr. O'Reilly, in a pattern I greatly admire, frequently reminds the reader how these tales of supernatural triumph were the talk of the pagans of Rome. Speaking from our own century, where historians delight in the ruder aspects of culture, I wonder that more are not drawn to these matters of popular interest. These holy characters effected both gossip and sudden conversions. The Emperors hated or sickened of them with irrational passion. In short, one of the ways this work most struck me, was its description of the general perturbation of that mighty Empire in the face of the precious blood of the martyrs of Christ.

The Catholic Encyclopedia article on the subject takes an interesting form, particularly in the lengthy litany of Popes and Romans after St. Pius that ignored this pagan monument turned Christian. It is St. Gregory the Great however, or so the story goes, who upon being asked by ambassadors of the Emperor Justinian for some relics, took them to the Coliseum. As it is told by O'Reilly: Taking up some of the clay from the arena, he folded it up in a napkin, and handed it to the ambassadors. They seemed not to appreciate the gift, and respectfully remonstrated. The holy Pope, raising his eyes and his heart towards heaven, with love and kindness beaming in his countenance, said to them, "You know not what you have;" and taking the napkin in his hand, unfolded it, and showed it to them, stained with blood - the blood of the martyrs who suffered in the Coliseum!

The same article from the encyclopedia then brings up a point worthy of some rumination, before going on to deny that many martyrs suffered there at all. (Yet another reason why we cannot always recommend that particular source.) The point is this: that the early Christian gave no heed to the place of martyrdom.

Indeed, little attention was paid by the Christians of the first age to the actual place of a martyr's sufferings; the sand stained with his blood was, when possible gathered up and treasured as a precious relic, but that was all. The devotion of the Christian body centred wholly around the place where the martyr was interred.

I recall Iosephus speaking to me of how inspired he was by the grounds of martyrdom at Auriesville. I felt the same way, and stirred to greater piety than when in the presence of the great relics we encountered in France. Why, and I take this opportunity to continue a frequent jest, my companions on the pilgrimage to Chartres failed even to gaze upon the Veil of the Mother of God. I wonder if there is something about the modern's piety which disinclines him from attachment to relics, in favor of the place of the actions. Perhaps it is our distance from these events and the low treatment given to martyrdom in our impious age, which requires us to see the stage before we can really feel the drama.

That being said, with a narrator like Fr. A. J. O'Reilly, the stalest heart is enflamed even without the amphitheatre at hand. Therefore, and without doing any injustice to the astonishing stories contained therein by relating them, I do fully recommend the work. Attached are the sentiments of Blessed Pius IX himself.




Rev. Domine,

Sanctissimus Dominus Noster mihi in mandatis dedit Tibi significare se libenter excepisse, una cum tuis officiosis litteris, volumen cui titulus 'I MARTIRI DEL COLOSSEO,' a te in lucem editum.

Eo vero gratius hoc tuum opus Sanctitatae Suae fuit, quo magis illud acerbitate et nequitiae temporum opportunum visum est. Nam dum religionis hostes ac ethnicae licentiae instauratores gravem injuriam intulerunt sanctitati ejus loci triumphali sanguine tot Martyrum consecrati, deletis nempe illic venerandis religiosi cultus monumentis, queis ornabatur, et ipsa precandi potestate Fidelibus adempta non potest profecto peculiari utilitate carere tua opera, quae ad debitam eisdem loci venerationem tuendam spectat, et ad piam memoriam fovendam gloriosorum certaminum quae ibidem Christi Martyres sustinuerunt. Quibus adjiciens Sanctitatem Suam apostolicam benedictionem Tibi benigne impertitam esse precor Deum ut Tibi fausta quaeque largiatur.

Romae ex aed. S. Cong. de P. Fide
Die 4 Martii, 1874.
Dom. Tuae.
Humillimus addictissimus famulus,
Joannes Simeoni

Rev. Sir,

Our most Holy Father has desired me to signify to you that he has been pleased to receive, with the annexed letters of homage, the volume published by you, entitled the 'Martyrs of the Coliseum.'

Your work is the more acceptable to his Holiness, as in these days of bitterness and impiety it is the more needed, for whilst the enemies of religion and imitators of pagan outrage have cast deep profanation on the sanctity of that place consecrated with the blood of so many martyrs, removing the very emblems of religious worship by which it was adorned, and even depriving the faithful of the privilege of praying within its hallowed precincts, your work, truly, cannot lack a special utility since it seeks to preserve the due veneration of that holy place, and to cherish the pious memory of the glorious conquests there gained by the Martyrs of Christ. Wherefore His Holiness has been graciously pleased to impart to you the Apostolic Benediction, which we pray God may propitiously extend to you.

Rome
Given at the College of the Propaganda
March 4th, 1874

Your most humble and devoted servant,
Joannes Simeoni


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