Roman gladiator history
Roman Gladiator history was originally a funerary practice learned from the Etruscans when archaic Rome was merely a kingdom of central Italy.
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Roman Gladiator history reaches back into archaic times, when the Roman kingdom was still under the influence of the neighbouring Etruscans and Sabines.
The practice of bloody funerary duels seems to have been practiced by many local cultures, also including the Lucanians (further to the south of Naples) who painted these funeral paintings.
Historically, the blood shed during the gladiatoria duel was also a means of satisfying the bloody thirst of the demons involved in taking the dead to the other world.
It is interesting to note how Roman gladiator history developed such that the Gladiatorial games developed as a distinctive public entertainment separately from the practices of ancient Roman funerals.