6 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

New evidence for the use of lions during executions in Roman Britain

Archaeologists have discovered an elaborate key as proof that wild animals were employed as execution vehicles in public arena events in Roman Britain.

Archaeologists in Leicester have discovered an ornately carved Roman bronze key handle portraying captives being thrown to lions in the arena.

The key handle was discovered buried beneath the floor of a late Roman townhouse excavated in Leicester in 2016 by the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). The handle depicts a ‘Barbarian’ fighting a lion, as well as four nude youngsters cowering in fear.

Following conservation, this one-of-a-kind item was investigated at King’s College London, with the results published in the journal Britannia.

Dr. Gavin Speed, who conducted the excavations at a location off Great Central Street in Leicester, according to the University of Leicester website, is a co-author of the research and detailed the moment the discovery was found.

Dr. Gavin Speed said: “When first found, it appeared as an indistinguishable bronze object, but after we carefully cleaned off the soil remarkably we revealed several small faces looking back at us, it was absolutely astounding. Nothing quite like this has been discovered anywhere in the Roman Empire before.”

The public spectacle of tossing criminals and prisoners of war to the beasts was sanctioned by Roman law, as indicated by the Latin phrase damnatio ad bestias. This method of death was frequently used to symbolize the annihilation of Rome’s adversaries, members of the tribes known as “Barbarians” who lived outside the Roman Empire.

Image: University of Leicester Archaeological Services
Image: University of Leicester Archaeological Services

Dr. John Pearce of King’s College London is one of the study’s co-authors. He added: “This unique object gives us our most detailed representation of this form of execution found in Roman Britain. As the first discovery of this kind, it illuminates the brutal character of Roman authority in this province.”

The primary figure shown on the handle has several characteristics associated with “Barbarians,” such as mane-like hair, a bushy beard, protruding eyes, and the wearing of pants beneath a bare body. The lion has wrapped itself around his torso and is biting the side of his skull. Four nude boys gaze out from behind the struggle, the elder two appearing to defend their younger companions, one of whom may be holding a stone. The youngsters are supposed to represent the tribe’s “children,” and their impending fate exemplifies what occurs when Roman conquest is rejected.

Many Roman cities in Britain had either an amphitheater or a theatre, where enormous crowds may have watched such events. The townhouse where the key handle was discovered is next door to Leicester’s freshly unearthed Roman theatre, and it’s tempting to believe that life did indeed copy art and that the key’s holders had watched such sights up close.

Direct evidence for violent spectacles in Roman Britain is extremely rare, with the exception of a puncture wound inflicted on the pelvis of a male skeleton from Roman York by a big animal.

Archaeologists think the key was probably made a century or more after Britain was taken.

Lions are shown on numerous key handles from Roman Britain, and they most likely represented home security and protection. As the detachable handle obviously continued to be appreciated, this sense of security lasted beyond the life of the key as a functional object. It was placed upright in the composition of a new floor built long after the heyday of the rich mansion it had previously guarded, in the expectation that it might still provide security.

Nick Cooper, ULAS post-excavation manager, and co-author stated that the key handle was one of the most significant findings from Roman Leicester and will be displayed to the public at the Jewry Wall Museum in Leicester once substantial restoration work was finished by 2023.

Source: University of Leicester

Cover Photo: University of Leicester Archaeological Services

Related Articles

The first settlement of the Cimmerians in Anatolia may be Büklükale

7 June 2022

7 June 2022

Archaeologists estimated that the first settlement in Anatolia of the Cimmerians, who left Southern Ukraine before Christ (about 8th century...

The 2,200-year-old Agora of Aigai ancient city comes to light

19 August 2024

19 August 2024

Archaeologists have uncovered an agora (city square) during excavations in the ancient city of Aigai, west of Manisa. Aigai, located...

Unprecedented Large Burial Urns in the Amazon May Reveal a Previously Unknown Indigenous Tradition

21 June 2025

21 June 2025

A remarkable archaeological discovery in the heart of the Amazon—seven giant funerary urns buried beneath a fallen tree—is offering fresh...

A Dice Game board from 5th century BC found in western Turkey’s Daskyleion

6 September 2023

6 September 2023

Archaeologists found a terracotta dice game tabla dating back to the fifth century B.C. during the excavations of the ancient...

The Artificial Intelligence Revolution: The Dark Age of Ancient Scrolls Ends

2 May 2025

2 May 2025

Artificial intelligence, often envisioned for future applications, is now playing a pivotal role in unraveling the mysteries of the past....

Evidence of Brain Surgery performed 3,000 years ago discovered in the ancient city of Tel Megiddo

27 February 2023

27 February 2023

Researchers have discovered a rare instance of delicate cranial surgery, possibly the earliest of its kind in the Middle East,...

Spanish Water Worker discovered 2,500-Year-Old two Gold Necklaces

14 September 2023

14 September 2023

A worker at a local water company in Spain discovered two gold necklaces thought to date back 2,500 years. Sergio...

Naked Venus statue discovered in a Roman garbage dump in France

29 March 2023

29 March 2023

Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventative Archaeological Research (Inrap) has been uncovered a trove of artifacts, including two...

Archaeologists opened an untouched Etruscan tomb

31 October 2023

31 October 2023

In Vulci Archaeological Park, central Italy, a 2,600-year-old intact double-chambered Etruscan tomb that was discovered in April and had remained...

A mosaic floor from the 2nd century BC depicting the muse Kalliope was discovered in ancient city of Side, southern Türkiye

24 May 2024

24 May 2024

During the excavations carried out in the ancient city of Side, a mosaic floor from the second century BC, depicting...

The oldest grave in northern Germany 10,500 years old

14 October 2022

14 October 2022

Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known human remains in northern Germany in a 10,500-year-old cremation grave in Lüchow, Schleswig-Holstein. The...

1,500-year-old secret underground passage uncovered in Istanbul

15 May 2023

15 May 2023

During the ongoing excavations in the ruins of Saint Polyeuktos Church in Istanbul’s Saraçhane neighborhood, which was destroyed during the...

Researchers found evidence of the use of medicinal herbs in the Grotte des Pigeons Cave in Morocco dating back 15,000 years

5 November 2024

5 November 2024

Morocco’s National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage has announced an important discovery that will enhance our understanding of ancient healing...

Could the Kerkenes Settlement be Gordion the Second?

1 August 2022

1 August 2022

Although the settlement on the Kerkenes mountain, located within the borders of Sorgun district of Yozgat, has been known and...

A new study provides the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating to as early as 10,000 years ago

8 December 2022

8 December 2022

A new study of stone tools from southern China reveals the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating back 10,000 years....