ators, and calling to Mr. George
to follow him, he sat down upon a great square stone, which seemed to
have formed a part of the ancient foundation of the seats.

"Come, uncle George," said Rollo, "let us sit down here a few minutes,
and make believe that the games are going on, and that we are the
spectators."

"Yes," said Mr. George, "we will. In that way we can get a better idea
of what the Coliseum was."

"I wish we could bring it all back again," said Rollo, "just as it was
in old times, by some sort of magic."

"We must do it by the magic of imagination," said Mr. George.

"Only," continued Rollo, "the things that they did down in the arena
were so dreadful that we could not bear to look at them."

"True," said Mr. George. "The spectacles must have been very dreadful,
indeed."

"Such as when the lions and tigers came out to tear and devour the poor
Christians," said Rollo.

"Yes," said Mr. George; "but generally, I suppose, when wild beasts and
men were brought out together on the arena, it was the beasts that were
killed, and not the men. It was a combat, and I suppose that the men
were usually victorious. It was the spectacle of the fury of the
combat, and of the bravery which the men displayed, and of the terrible
danger that they were often exposed to, that so excited and pleased the
spectators."

"I should not have thought that they could have found any men that would
have been willing to fight the beasts," said Rollo.

"Perhaps the men were not willing," replied Mr. George, "but were
compelled to fight them. Indeed, I suppose that they were generally
prisoners of war or criminals. The generals used to bring home a great
many prisoners of war from the different countries that they conquered,
and these men were trained in Rome, and in other great cities, to fight
on the arena, either with wild beasts, or with one another. They were
called _gladiators_. There is a statue of one, wounded and dying,
somewhere here in Rome."

"I should like to see it," said Rollo.

"We _shall_ see it, undoubtedly," said Mr. George. "It is one of the
most celebrated statues in the world. It is called the _Dying
Gladiator_. I presume the sculptor of it made it from his recollections
of the posture and expression of face which were witnessed in the case
of real gladiators in the arena, when they had been mortally wounded,
and were sinking down to die."

"We certainly must see it," said Rollo.

"We certainly will,"