In ancient Rome for entertainment Romans could watch many gladiator fights. The first gladiator battles were held at funeral services due to the fact that the Romans believed that the defeated gladiator's spirit would protect the dead Roman on their way to the afterlife. Most gladiators were slaves and prisoners that had no choice in the matter, however, some gladiators were Romans who needed money to support their families or even just Romans who wanted fame. One type of gladiator fight was when a gladiator was put into the coliseum with a hungry animal so they had to survive and fight the animal but that wasn't why people wanted to see gladiator fights. The main reason Romans watched gladiator fights was to see gladiators fight each other,