Page 95 - All About History - Issue 56-17

History Answers

Did the
Romans

really throw
Christians to
the lions?

Kristin Holloway
Yes, although it was much less
common than early Christian writers
have suggested. ‘Damnatio ad bestias’
(Latin for ’condemned to the beasts’)
was a sentence mostly used for army
deserters and those guilty of treason. It
was first used in the 2nd century BCE
and some Christians were executed by
wild animals under the reign of Nero.
By the 1st century CE, lions were
getting expensive, so bears or wild
boars were more commonly used. We
only have one contemporary account
that specifically mentions the use of
lions against Christians and there is no
evidence that were ever executed at
the Colosseum in Rome.
St Ignatius of Antioch wrote circa
108 CE that he was due to be
thrown to the beasts, but lions are
not specifically mentioned until
4th-century writings

Since speed limits have existed,
many have campaigned to bring When did speed limits for
them to their own towns
roads irst appear?
Joe McKenzie
The first limit that specified a particular speed
was the 1861 Locomotive Act, which
restricted vehicles to 10 miles per
hour (16 kilometres an hour)
on open roads and 5mph (3
km/h) in towns. But as far
back as 1419, the first book
of English Common Law,
called the Liber Albus,
forbade anyone from
driving an empty
cart faster than they
would when it was
loaded. The fine for What happend to Wild West legend
doing this was 40
pence — about five Calamity Jane’s kids? Find out at
days’ wages for an
historyanswers.co.uk
ordinary labourer.

1814 1959 1975 1984

l Battle of Baltimore l Russia reaches the Moon l First American saint l Atlantic balloon crossing
Francis Scott Key witnesses The unmanned Soviet Luna 2 Pope Paul VI canonises the Retired US Air Force colonel
the British Navy bombarding probe is deliberately crashed first native-born US citizen. Joseph Kittinger sets off
Baltimore during the War into the Moon at 10,863km/h, Elizabeth Ann Seton was on what will become the
of 1812. His poem, Defence sending back scientific data born in 1774 in New York. She first solo gas balloon flight
of Fort McHenry, will later during its descent. It is the converted to Catholicism and across the Atlantic Ocean.
be used as the lyrics for the first man-made object to founded a girls’ school and The trip takes four days to
American national anthem. reach the Moon. later a religious community. cover 5,735 kilometres. © Getty Images

95