The most famous gladiator of all time was spartacus, not because of his performance inside the arena, but for his bravery in breaking out of it.
As a young man, Spartacus left his home in the hill country of Thrace, inGreece, to join the Roman army. For reasons we don't know, he ran away, but was captured and sold into slavery. Soon after, he ended up at a gladiator school in Capua, in southern Italy.
Together with another gladiator named Crixus, he planned a dramatic escape. They plotted at night and whenever they could sneak away from the guards.