 Death could be rightly meted out as punishment, or met with equanimity in peace or war, as a gift of fate; but when inflicted as entertainment, with no underlying moral or religious purpose, it could only pollute and demean those who witnessed it.The "munus" itself could be interpreted as pious necessity, but its increasing luxury corroded Roman virtue, and created an un-Roman appetite for profligacy and self-indulgence.Caesar's 46 BC "ludi" were mere entertainment for political gain, a waste of lives and of money that would have been better doled out to his legionary veterans.