The Colosseum echoes in popular imagination as a place of constant death. But the reality of gladiatorial combat was far more complex. Gladiators were not expendable—they were investments. Years of training, food, and medical care made them too valuable to casually throw away. In most bouts, the contest ended when one fighter was wounded or outmatched. Raising a finger signaled surrender. At that moment, the editor (the sponsor of the games, often an emperor or magistrate) decided the loser’s fa