As I'ved been doing my studies on the early churches predominant position on war and peace...you cannot get very far before the Coliseum becomes a powerful entity in the discussion. Violence in a culture and the love of watching or participating in violence rises to the surface. As one moves from the furit of war...and follows the limbs, then arrives at the trunk and continues down the tree into the dirt to the roots that lie below...one is confronted with the violence that lies within us. That sinfulness is what always creates the evil that is without us.
It was the transformative issue that the teaching of Christ had upon the early disciples. What He taught changed the way they lived. Their hearts and minds changed. They literally repented of living the "way they had before". They actually got new minds and hearts...and that radically altered they way they treated one another.
The gospel was so real...they even gave up their own lives...as entertainment for the blood thirsty masses. And like Perpetua...took the sword of the soldier...and put it to thier own neck in acts of utter submission to the eternal justice of God.
They didn't even love their own lives....and this faith...turned the world upside down.
Read about Perpetua's last stand in the Roman Coliseum...here: The Martyrdom of Saint Perpetua
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