“Who does not reckon among the things of greatest interest the contests of gladiators and wild beasts, especially those that are given by you [the emperor]? But we say that to watch a man put to death is much the same as killing him, and so we swear off such spectacles. We do not even look on, lest we should contract guilt and pollution. How then could we put people to death?”(Athengoras, ‘Plea for Christians’)