The first recorded gladiatorial fight was in Rome during 264 BC at the funeral of Decimus Iunius Brutus Pera and was organised by his sons to pay honour to their deceased father. Three pairs of gladiators fought against each other to the death at his funeral pyre. It was believed that the ritually shed blood reconciled the dead with the living. We can assume that there were gladiatorial fights before this in Rome, but were not recorded and the tradition of gladiatorial combats did not evolve in Rome but considered to have come from the Etruscans. In Tomb 7 of the necropolis Gaudo near Paestum shows fighting between two men wearing attic
The first recorded gladiatorial fight was in Rome during 264 BC at the funeral of Decimus Iunius Brutus Pera and was organised by his sons to pay honour to their deceased father. Three pairs of gladiators fought against each other to the death at his funeral pyre. It was believed that the ritually shed blood reconciled the dead with the living. We can assume that there were gladiatorial fights before this in Rome, but were not recorded and the tradition of gladiatorial combats did not evolve in Rome but considered to have come from the Etruscans. In Tomb 7 of the necropolis Gaudo near Paestum shows fighting between two men wearing attic