Tertullian and “the Spectacles”

Last week I posted a small article about the Colosseum in Rome and promised a follow-up where I talked about Tertullian and his views. Tertullian was an austere Christian writer from Carthage who lived from about 155 to 240 AD. He wrote an “Apology” around 197 AD, during the reign of the emperor Septimius Severus where he defended the Christian faith. Shortly thereafter, he wrote a book addressed to Christians called “De Spectaculis” (“On the Spectacles”) where he discussed the subject of Rom...