Oration to the Greeks 23

I have seen men weighed down by bodily training and carrying about the burden of their flesh, for whom prizes and crowns are set out, the presidents of the games calling them on not to noble deeds but to a contest in violence and strife; and the one who hits harder is crowned. And these are the lesser evils; who would not shrink from telling the greater? Some, having taken up idleness because of their profligacy, sell themselves to be killed; the one in want sells himself, and the rich man buys those who will do the killing. The witnesses take their seats for them, and the fighters fight to the death for nothing, and no one comes down to help. Are such things well done by you? The one who is foremost among you gathers an army of bloody murderers, proclaiming that he keeps robbers; the robbers come forward from his house, and you all flock to the spectacle and become judges, both of the president of this wickedness and of the gladiators themselves. And the one who misses the slaughter is grieved that he was not condemned to be a spectator of wicked, godless, and abominable deeds. You sacrifice animals in order to eat meat, and you buy human beings to supply your soul with cannibalism, feeding it with the most godless bloodshed. The robber kills for the sake of gain, but the rich man buys gladiators for the sake of their being killed.