 The Christian author Tertullian, commenting on "ludi meridiani" in Roman Carthage during the peak era of the games, describes a more humiliating method of removal.One arena official, dressed as the "brother of Jove", Dis Pater (god of the underworld) strikes the corpse with a mallet.Another, dressed as Mercury, tests for life-signs with a heated "wand"; once confirmed as dead, the body is dragged from the arena.