On October 1, 326 CE Emperor Constantine prohibited the penalty ad beast and exchanged it for metella. This meant that it was no longer allowed to punish with tearing in the arena by wild animals, and the convicts were sent to forced labor in the mines.
Finally, gladiator fights disappeared in the eastern part of Roman Empire in the end of the fourth century CE. In 404 CE, Emperor Honorius abolished the gladiatorial struggles in the western part of the Roman Empire.
