News Anthropology

A lion’s bite marks a fatal fight with a possible Roman-era gladiator

Physical evidence of a fight between a Roman gladiator and a lion has been unearthed in England

A drawing of Roman gladiators holding knives over a lion in an arena

Researchers say they have found physical evidence of a fight between a lion and a gladiator in Roman Britain. In this illustration from the 1860s, gladiators battle tigers and lions in Rome’s Colosseum.

Nastasic/digitalvision vectors/getty images

By Bruce Bower

As a fight to the death reached its end around 1,800 years ago, a victorious lion sank its teeth into a young man’s thigh bone.