The Roar Of The Crowd
It does not work the other way around.
For a start, lions have no thumbs. And, while consensus is divided still over the exact nature of the gesture, they had no swords to thrust upwards nor, when lifting themselves from the ground, do they erect themselves on full hind legs, standing upright like a man does. Thus, even if they did have opposable thumbs with which to make the requisite signal, the signal, as we know it, would mean nothing to them.
Neither, so far as we know, do lions, or any of the big cats for that matter, have any metaphysical beliefs. I would not be so brash as to say that they have none, but there are none, so far as we know. It does appear unlikely, though, that members of a single pride or a separate pride would develop beliefs that differed from their fellows. Certainly, it is hard to imagine how these beliefs would threaten the beliefs of others. As lions come from, what we must admit is, a small geographical area, we could assume that ethnically and ethically, even, they are much of a muchness and not prone to such wide, various and contentious philosophical disagreements as men.
Lastly, of course, a single human is hardly ever match for a solitary lion. And, we have to ask ourselves, would the single human have guts enough to perform knowing that several hundred, thousand perhaps, lions surrounded the competition. In reality, a lion thrown to the Christians - however many - would not be facing any real punishment at all.
For a start, lions have no thumbs. And, while consensus is divided still over the exact nature of the gesture, they had no swords to thrust upwards nor, when lifting themselves from the ground, do they erect themselves on full hind legs, standing upright like a man does. Thus, even if they did have opposable thumbs with which to make the requisite signal, the signal, as we know it, would mean nothing to them.
Neither, so far as we know, do lions, or any of the big cats for that matter, have any metaphysical beliefs. I would not be so brash as to say that they have none, but there are none, so far as we know. It does appear unlikely, though, that members of a single pride or a separate pride would develop beliefs that differed from their fellows. Certainly, it is hard to imagine how these beliefs would threaten the beliefs of others. As lions come from, what we must admit is, a small geographical area, we could assume that ethnically and ethically, even, they are much of a muchness and not prone to such wide, various and contentious philosophical disagreements as men.
Lastly, of course, a single human is hardly ever match for a solitary lion. And, we have to ask ourselves, would the single human have guts enough to perform knowing that several hundred, thousand perhaps, lions surrounded the competition. In reality, a lion thrown to the Christians - however many - would not be facing any real punishment at all.