The Arena was the 'stage' of gladiators and is still the largest open-air opera house in the world. What only few people know, however, is that the Arena was also the stage of one of the greatest massacres in Italy: the murder of two hundred pàtari. The pàtari were pauperist friars with a programme of moral rehabilitation of the clergy.

In 1275, Friar Timidius, an inquisitor of heretical evil, became bishop of Verona.

In 1276, the chroniclers of Verona reported the feat performed by the bishop, the inquisitor, and the Scaligers against the heretics who had settled in Sirmione. 160 heretics were captured and taken to Verona at the behest of Mastino della Scala, who at that time was Podestà of Verona. However, it was under the rule of Alberto della Scala that the prisoners from Pàtarini suffered the death penalty: they were burnt alive in the middle of the Arena.