... hold in their honour. The first recorded combat was for the funeral of Junius Brutus in 256 BC, where three pairs of gladiators fought to the death. By 65 BC, Caesar had no less than 320 pairs of gladiators fighting. This is testimony of how the games grew in popularity and over this period they lost their religious significance and were ... e funerary inscription refers to these followers as "amatores", which literally translated means lovers. Among the graffiti that survives includes one that translates "girls" heart throb, Thracian gladiator Celadus, belonging to Octavius fought 3, w...

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