Gladiator Fights Were Not all Death Matches

It’s one of those things that most people assume – when gladiators fought one of the combatants had to die.

Not true. It’s just not true.

Was  death a real possibility? Of course. It was a contest of strength, skill, and courage. Plus, they used real weapons.

But it was not mandatory, or even desired, for gladiators fight to the death. Off the top of my head, here are three reasons why:

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Gladiator – Great Storytelling, Bad History

Disclaimer: There are a lot of people who rag on the Gladiator movie from the historical standpoint. Which is fair enough, because there are a boatload of historical inaccuracies. But Gladiator is also an extremely well-crafted story, hitting many emotional ‘hot buttons.’ Here are five reasons I loathe and five reasons I love this movie:

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