Item — HN Reader

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeadlyGame

This dates back to at least Ancient Rome, where slaves would fight each other in the Colosseum for the amusement of spectators. Many people volunteered (actually seeking enslavement) because being a gladiator led to glory and riches.

Flamma was granted his freedom 4 times and refused it every time! He refused to quit and ended up dying in his 30s. The idea that someone would voluntarily rejoin the game show of death is very realistic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamma

That being said, many gladiators didn't really have the skills to pursue a different career after retirement.

2 comments

>That being said, many gladiators didn't really have the skills to pursue a different career after retirement.

Same applies to many, many soldiers — and it's not just about the skills.

It's just that things don't matter as much anymore outside of that environment.

This was always so interesting to me, especially when I think back to being a kid. The neighborhood kids would hang out in nearby farms and fields, catching bugs, snakes and frogs...only to put them in jars or terrariums to see if they would fight. In retrospect, it seems positively sociopathic, but it was fun at the time (and spurred a lifelong interest in frogs, for me).

As an adult, it makes me wonder if that's what we were doing though; setting up gladiator games to try and feel a dominance over something in a world where we were constantly the bottom of the hierarchal ladder. The above step on the below, so to speak.