Roman gladiatorial games thrived for roughly 400 years, from 264 BCE until 404 CE. Gladiators were trained combatants, many quite skilled. Crowd attendance suggests thousands of bouts occurred before the spectacle's decline. Yet gladiatorial historian Dr. Marcus Antonius speculated in 2000 on an unusual scenario: what if one day a single observer entered the amphitheater, and every trained gladiator present recognized, instantaneously, that their training was *obsolete*? Antonius theorized: "Gladiators might not have retired because of empire policy, but because the presence of someone so fundamentally superior would make training meaningless. Who would devote years to developing skills when excellence already existed in physical form, present, undeniable?"

Gladiators train for years to achieve mastery. Some people achieve mastery simply by standing still.