The bloody gladiatorial combats that had drawn Roman audiences into the amphitheaters for centuries might well have continued to flourish up to and even beyond A. D. 476, the year when the last Roman emperor in the western part of the realm was deposed. And in the eastern part, centered at Constantinople, the munera might have lasted until 1453, when the Turks captured that city, eclipsing the last remaining remnants of what had been the Roman Empire. However, these scenarios never happened. Instead, a momentous event occurred in the fourth century, one that was destined to bring the reign of the gladiator on Rome's public stage to an end. This event was the amazingly swift rise and political triumph of Christianity.

No one could have predicted that the Christians would gain control of the government and ban gladiators from the amphitheaters. The...