Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power <\/a> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=leithartcom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=029272523X\")
) Alison Futrell describes the Phoenician practice of human sacrifice transplanted to Carthage: \u201cThe young victim was placed in the arms of the bronze image of Ba\u2019al Hammon, arms that sloped downward toward a pit or large brazier filled with burning embers. Once the child had been cremated, the ashes were removed and placed in an urn, which in turn was placed in a pit, sometimes lined with cobbles, and then covered over. A burial marker, a cippus or stela, was often placed above the urn.\u201d <\/p>\n Carthage belies the theory that cultures outgrow this barbarism as they become more educated and sophisticated: \u201cAt Carthage . . . expansion of political hegemony, cultural sophistication, and child sacrifice simultaneously peaked, in the fourth and third centuries B.C.\u201d When Syracuse invaded in the early fourth century, \u201cthe nobles of Carthage sacrificed some two hundred of their children.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In her study of Roman gladiatorial combat and arenas ( Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power ) Alison Futrell describes the Phoenician practice of human sacrifice transplanted to Carthage: \u201cThe young victim was placed in the arms of the bronze image of Ba\u2019al Hammon, arms that sloped downward toward a pit or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"yoast_head":"\n
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