It is 54 AD and Emperor Nero has run out of victims to throw to his award winning Detroit Lions in the coliseum. He dispatches his Captain of the Guard Yosimitus Sammus to find a good victim and bring him back. Sammus and his men find Bugs bunny relaxing in the area and decide that he will do as good as anything else. However Bugs proves more than a match for both Sammus and the lions.
Opening with a very clear spoof of Charles Laughton, this cartoon marks itself out as a spoof of the 1950's Roman epics that were all the rage at the time. Generally the Looney Toons films were pretty sharp at spoofing big films and their stars - even if they didn't make them their rasion d'etre. Here the majority of this cartoon is the usual straight chase between Bugs and Sam, here with a great reoccurring joke where Bugs constantly exposes Sam to the lions. It is obvious but still very funny and much of this is down to the work of the characters.
Bugs is really good after a slow start for him and he not only tricks Sam but also does good work to free up the lions. Sam is really good and is an enjoyable foil for Bugs - he is not his equal but he does react really well to the regular lion attacks and makes them all the funnier for his good work. The gags are consistently funny and they are delivered really well.
Overall this is a funny cartoon that trades on a great running joke involving Sam and a pit full of lions - a clever and funny little short.