Quote Originally Posted by LegioXXXUlpiaVictrix
Another thing is that in reality the fights to death in the gladiatorial arena were less common that popular misconception says, something the movie didn't imply.
Yes, but that is so boring.

One has to consider that gladiators were highly trained individuals, often the best and strongest slaves (when they were taken). Clearly to waste such expensive comodities on casual games, is just foolish. Sure the Romans were getting very rich at the time (they were getting to that point around 140 BC), but the money was concentrated in few families and the number of gladiators could never be sustained by them alone (for their funirary games and various other events). There has to have been lots of 'cheaper' games where the fighters didn't kill (unless by luck/bad luck).