Beyond the arena

While Olympic pageantry reigns, remember the shut-outs | Mindy Belz

Watching the opening Olympic ceremonies in Beijing, and anticipating a closing spectacle soon, I couldn't help but be awed by what was easily the most arresting live performance ever. It is undeniably amazing that a country whose annual per capita income only a few years ago stood at less than $1,000 could orchestrate such a light, sound, and precision-tuned extravaganza. Stephen Spielberg need not apply.

But as the drummers and the calligraphy dancers and the tai chi artists and others performed in Beijing's National Stadium, I found myself thinking of Mamertine Prison. Mamertine sits on a hill in downtown Rome within earshot of the Colosseum. Its legendary underground chambers held high-profile prisoners like Peter and Paul. Researchers who've pieced together its ancient past say it's likely that the apostle Peter could feel the dank walls vibrate and hear the roar of the crowd, the unabashed pitch and frenzy of Rome's elite as Nero and his men found ever more diabolical ways to put Christians to death. Outside the arena, Peter awaited his own martyrdom as part of the first-known wave of large-scale Christian persecution.