Fame Beyond the Arena

Some gladiators became genuine celebrities. Flamma, a Syrian fighter, became a legend over a long career — his gravestone records that he was spared (granted missio) four times after losing or drawing a bout, yet kept fighting until he died at 30. Graffiti in Pompeii calls one fighter "the girls' delight."

• Free men sometimes volunteered for the arena, chasing fame
• Emperor Commodus scandalized Rome by fighting as a gladiator and billing the treasury for his appearances
• Gladiator blood was believed to cure epilepsy

The games lasted over 600 years before Emperor Honorius officially banned them in 404 AD, after a monk named Telemachus was stoned to death by the crowd for trying to stop a fight.