Nearly the entire life of a gladiator was strictly regimented, with rules and routines imposed by others. On reaching the barracks, he recited his oath when told to, then drilled, ate, and slept on command. He could not go anywhere else, do anything else, or associate with anyone else unless his keepers and handlers said he could.

Likewise, when the gladiator finally walked into the center of an amphitheater to fight, the show in which he took part was highly regimented and formalized, a public ceremony tightly scripted by tradition, custom, and accepted rules of conduct. The gladiator and his opponent entered the arena at a prescribed time; at a given signal, they went through the preliminary rituals; at another signal, they started fighting; and the survivor (or both if it was a draw) walked out...