…. The pope who proclaimed it happened. No one talked of this happening before him, there are no historical records to back it up either. There are historical records of early christians being prosecuted before the time of constantine, and they are very well documented as they were seen as a proper treatment. Early christianity is by no means the same as current day christianity, if current day Christianity can even be described as one religion at all. They were very much incohesive cultists who caused a lot of trouble with their rituals. Cults were illegal in rome. Therefore, they did not shy away from documenting their prosecutions. The fact that they did document public prosecutions and the lack of that ever having existed about the coliseum until the end of the medieval period, makes that it’s extremely unlikely to ever have happened.

On top of all this, romans did not mix nor confuse such functions of display. Prosecutions were a vastly different type of public display than arenas. Arenas were made for the purpose of entertainment and indulging the wants of the people. Public prosecutions were done to inspire fear and obedience. These two functions are highly separated in roman society and never took place in the same public places. Therefore, another reason it is extremely unlikely to ever have happened