Back when Romans fed Christians to lions, how did the lions get to Rome? I know that they bought them from traders, but how were they transported to Rome?
There used to be lions in Europe.
In addition there was a lively trade from North Africa, which at one time was far more megafauna-rich than it is today. The Barbary Lion lasted into the early 20th century and it was a short boat trip from Tunis to Rome.
They took that left turn at Albuquerque.
How did they capture live animals in the days before tranquilizer guns? Traps and such? It sounds pretty scary.
Just to be clear, we don’t really know if the Romans fed Christians to lions.
Catueducts.
From that link:
John H. White Jr., former transportation curator at the Smithsonian Institution wrote that the Romans transported animals in cages from tropial Africa for arena games. White cited this as the earliest known form of containerized transportation of goods*
*John H. White, Jr., “Containers: An Idea Whose Time Came Centuries Ago,” *Intermodal Age *Oct. 1985, pp.42-44
Human life was alot cheaper in the olden days.
So was animal life. It’s a lot easier to capture animals when you don’t have to worry about the supervision by the Humane Society. In other words, who cares if three lions die before you’re able to capture one live one?
And you ship 25 and only 3 survive the trip.
Traps? They could work metal or just dig a big hole and bait a lion to it or lure it into the hole. I mean I am sure one got out of its cage at least once
Are we discounting the fact that they can be bred in captivity?
Yeah, maybe they used Christians to capture the lions. 
As cubs?
First Class all the way, as befitting the kings of the jungle.
I recall reading in some of Cicero’s letters a young aedile (Caelius?) pestering the orator to send him panthers for upcoming games. This was when Cicero was govenor of Cilicia near the Black Sea. That’s not lions, I know, but it indicates that the transport of exotic animals across large stretches of the empire was a well-managed business.
I did not know that. Huh.
So many species, gone forever. Damn.
Ever heard of a sop for Cerberus? I’ll bet folks were clever enough to work that trick with non-mythological beasts.