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Roman Beast Hunts

The Ancients

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The Origins of the Beast Hunts

In the 2nd century BC, a general Imeleus Paulus decided that those people who deserted from the Roman army who were not Roman citizens could be punished with animals. This has become by the first century AD, more common than death by crucifixion or fire. Death by an animal was just seen as such a lowly way of dying because it's almost like the person is being punished twice. The animal was the executioner and the animal was the desecrator. Your body doesn't exist anymore. It's inside another body, an animal body, the lowest that you could be. We do know that Caligula is said to have, when he had to feed the exotic

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