# Who were the GLADIATORS really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-gladiators-really/690061 "2014-06-04T22:01:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-gladiators-really/690061/41 "2014-06-07T22:22:38Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > The statistic was originally presented as having a 33% chance of surviving, which implies that more than half of the gladiators died in their first bout, not third. Naturally, on this thread there was some skepticism of that. > > If it was supposed to be a 33% chance of dying, then that’s a bit more reasonable, in that it doesn’t imply both participants dying most of the time. And if that’s the case then you’re statement that the average would die after three bouts is more or less true. I understand the confusion then - I didn’t phrase what I was saying at all well. Apologies. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-gladiators-really/690061/42 "2014-06-08T16:26:09Z")
I’ve looked at a few sources, and while there are estimates, I just don’t think we have sufficient evidence to really put numbers on it. The averages almost don’t matter in terms of an individual bout, because so many factors went into it. The types and number of fighters, whether it was early in the day or late (as the crowd liked to whet its bloodlust early), how good the games had been, and whether there was some kind of mass event or not. These things mattered a lot more than the rough odds in general. ---
**Author:** ![Suicide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Suicide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suicide)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-gladiators-really/690061/43 "2014-06-09T15:53:36Z")
What happens if two gladiators had a tie, or a draw, or neither could win and it just kept going? Sometimes they were both allowed to live if they both fought valiantly so they could kill each other another day. But if they were deemed to be ‘faking it’ they both were killed by the bossmandude…is this correct? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-gladiators-really/690061.md?page=2)