The New International Encyclopædia/Androclus

AN′DROCLUS (Aulus Gellius, v: 14), or ANDROCLES (Ælian, vii; 48). The slave of a Roman consul of the Early Empire, who compelled him to fight with a ferocious lion in the Circus Maximus. The beast, far from hurting him, fondled him like a playful dog. The Emperor and people demanded an explanation of such strange actions, and it transpired that Androclus had escaped from a cruel master in Africa and taken refuge in a desert cave. One day, a lion entered the cave limping painfully and holding up his paw, from which Androclus extracted a large thorn. The grateful beast never forgot this, and when they met again in the fatal Circus at Rome he testified his recognition. Both slave and lion were freed, and afterward were exhibited in the streets of Rome.