l heads were turned to the arena; so he rose
and as formerly in the vineyard of Cornelius he had blessed for death
and eternity those who were intended for imprisonment, so now he blessed
with the cross those who were perishing under the teeth of wild beasts.
He blessed their blood, their torture, their dead bodies turned into
shapeless masses, and their souls flying away from the bloody sand. Some
raised their eyes to him, and their faces grew radiant; they smiled when
they saw high above them the sign of the cross. But his heart was rent,
and he said, "O Lord! let Thy will be done. These my sheep perish to
Thy glory in testimony of the truth. Thou didst command me to feed them;
hence I give them to Thee, and do Thou count them, Lord, take them, heal
their wounds, soften their pain, give them happiness greater than the
torments which they suffered here."

And he blessed them one after another, crowd after crowd, with as much
love as if they had been his children whom he was giving directly into
the hands of Christ. Then Caesar, whether from madness, or the wish that
the exhibition should surpass everything seen in Rome so far, whispered
a few words to the prefect of the city. He left the podium and went at
once to the cuniculum. Even the populace were astonished when, after a
while, they saw the gratings open again. Beasts of all kinds were let
out this time,--tigers from the Euphrates, Numidian panthers, bears,
wolves, hyenas, and jackals. The whole arena was covered as with a
moving sea of striped, yellow, flax-colored, dark-brown, and spotted
skins. There rose a chaos in which the eye could distinguish nothing
save a terrible turning and twisting of the backs of wild beasts. The
spectacle lost the appearance of reality, and became as it were an orgy
of blood, a dreadful dream, a gigantic kaleidoscope of mad fancy. The
measure was surpassed. Amidst roars, howls, whines, here and there
on the seats of the spectators were heard the terrified and spasmodic
laughter of women, whose strength had given way at last. The people
were terrified. Faces grew dark. Various voices began to cry, "Enough!
enough!"

But it was easier to let the beasts in than drive them back again.
Caesar, however, found a means of clearing the arena, and a new
amusement for the people. In all the passages between the seats appeared
detachments of Numidians, black and stately, in feathers and earrings,
with bows in their hands. The people divined wh