The Martyrs of the Coliseum or Historical Records of the Great Amphitheater of Ancient Rome Paperback – January 1, 2009

As an Eastern Orthodox Christian, I've long been a lover of the lives of the saints. Heretofore, I've primarily been familiar with collections narrating the lives of the saints of eastern Christendom -i.e; Greek, Russian, etc. Having personally been named after a pre-schismatic western saint, I've often longed to find a collection of western Orthodox saints. The Martyrs of the Coliseum is an excellent collection of lives of the pre-schism western martyrs of the Christian faith, written by a Roman Catholic priest. The vernacular is somewhat scholarly and at times a bit archaic - but as the book is copyright 1885, this is to be expected. The lives and works of these early Christians who were persecuted under the pagan Roman empire are eloquently and faithfully described in this work, which in my opinion, is worthy of the attention of all Christians. If at times some of the events described in the pages of the lives of the saints seem hard to grasp or difficult to believe, it is due to the hardness of our hearts and the darkness of our minds - for with God, are not all things possible? I'll close my review with a quote from Blaise Pascal, who describes my last sentiment with a bit more clarity than I myself am capable of: "Openly appearing to those who look for Him with all their heart, while hiding from those who run from him with all their heart, God governs human knowledge of His presence. He gives signs that are visible to those who search for Him, yet invisible to those who are indifferent to Him. To those who wish to see, God gives sufficient light; to those who do not wish to see, He gives sufficient darkness." To any readers who enjoy this book, I would also recommend "Witnesses for Christ: Orthodox Christian Neomartyrs of the Ottoman Period, 1437-1860" by Nomikos Michael Vaporis.

This is a very good and fascinating book. But it's not for the faint of heart. I was only able to get halfway through it.

Good read. I have a friend who had difficulty with the reading level, and didn't finish it... she thought it was more intellectual based I suppose, but I found it easy to read, and the stories captivating. God Bless our martyrs!

The back cover and last page were freshly bent. I don't like carelessness

Excellent historical account and interesting how they stopped.If you think you have problems, they are nothing compared the the Martyers!

very good book. read it over and over. they are stories that you don't hear all the time well worth the price

Very informative

All the supposed Great Stories you may have heard about the Coliseum are mostly FAIRY TALES! THOUSANDS of Black Jews (Men, Women, and Children) who were captured and taken back to Rome after the 70ad siege on Jerusalem were Martyrd in the Coliseum on a daily bases! So Much blood was in the dirt, the DIRT BLED! The term Christian and Jews are ONE in the Same!