The most popular image of the Damnatio ad Bestias is that of helpless Christians being thrown to the lions. The truth is that the ceremony and practice was far more complicated, serving as a multifaceted form of entertainment and punishment, used in a variety of different ways. Perhaps one of the greatest myths surrounding the practice is that it was always lions that the victims were throne to. Lions were extremely rare in Rome and were even more rarely used for the Damnatio ad Bestias. By far the most common big cat imported for the purpose was tigers, although many different kinds of animals could be substituted. There are records of eagles, wolves, bears, bulls, elephants, hippopotami and even rhinoceroses being used to dispatch of criminals with.