9 May 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

2,000-year-old Roman Military Sandal with Nails Found in Germany

25 June 2024

25 June 2024

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman Military Sandal near an auxiliary Roman camp in Germany. Archaeologists from...

Mustatil Structures in Arabia May Be 7,000-Year-Old Stone Remnants of Cattle Cult

1 May 2021

1 May 2021

Archaeologists examining the mustatil stone remains in the northwest of Arabia think that these stone remains may have been used...

Medieval Hub of Arts & Crafts Center discovered in Nola: The discovery could rewrite the history of early medieval Nola

23 August 2023

23 August 2023

On the outskirts of Nola, a district from the early Middle Ages has been discovered. According to the Soprintendenza Archeologia,...

Grain Barns dating back 6,000 years unearthed in China

15 December 2022

15 December 2022

Chinese archaeologists have revealed a cluster of 16 ancient granaries that traced back to the mid-late period of the Yangshao...

Scientists find the oldest evidence of humans in Israel -a 1.5 million-year-old Human vertebra

3 February 2022

3 February 2022

An international group of Israeli and American researchers, an ancient human vertebra has been uncovered in Israel’s Jordan Valley that...

1,500-Year-Old Christian Ivory Reliquary Box Discovered in Austria

27 June 2024

27 June 2024

Archaeologists have discovered an exceptional Christian ancient ivory reliquary box in Austria that is thought to be around 1,500 years...

18,000 years ago, late Pleistocene humans may have hatched and raised the “World’s Most Dangerous Bird.”

2 October 2021

2 October 2021

Researchers say the eggshell is an understudied archaeological material that has the potential to clarify past interactions between humans and...

Israeli researchers uncover earliest evidence silver used as currency in Levant

9 January 2023

9 January 2023

On Sunday, Israeli archaeologists revealed that they had found the earliest proof of silver being used as money in the...

New study: Human brains preserve in diverse environments for at least 12 000 years

21 March 2024

21 March 2024

A study by forensic anthropologist Alexandra Morton-Hayward and her team from the University of Oxford has shown that the human...

When the waters receded, the mounds of Pulur Sakyol and Yeniköy, bearing the traces of Kura-Aras Culture, came to light

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

The important cultural areas of Pulur Sakyol and Yeniköy mounds, which bear the traces of Kura-Aras Culture, represented by kurgans...

The remains of two new Doric temples are discovered under the Italian site of Paestum

15 January 2024

15 January 2024

Archaeologists have unearthed two new temples in the Doric style in Paestum, an ancient Greek colony in southern Italy. The...

Saudi Arabia launching world’s first-ever ‘Museum in the Sky’

4 November 2021

4 November 2021

The world’s first “Museum in the Sky” flight operated by Saudia Airlines, will take off from Riyadh to AlUla today....

Detectorist Finds 2,500-Year-Old Unique Bronze Brooch

26 August 2024

26 August 2024

A metal detectorist, who chose to remain anonymous, uncovered three artifacts, including a massive fibula, i.e. a bronze brooch dating...

Rare Langsax fighting blade with Viking origins discovered in Poland

20 August 2021

20 August 2021

Archaeologists working in the Wdecki Landscape Park in Poland’s Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship have discovered a rare langsax long knife with potential...

A new Indo-European Language discovered in the Hittite capital Hattusa

21 September 2023

21 September 2023

The Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism announced in a written statement that a new Indo-European language was discovered...