Pretty sure there's more bugs than functioning code in that game.
Anyway,
update. I still haven't died, somehow.
I moved on and learned my lesson from my loss to Severus, moderating my aggression and taking more control of my fighting style. As a Hoplomachus I have a spear and a dagger with a buckler on my dagger hand. I can use the spear to fight my shorter-ranged foes from a distance. Since they can't hit me back, I can make lighter attacks and conserve my energy.
It was still rough. In Germania I was the top of the heap but here in Gaul I'm new meat and a substantial number of enemies are stronger than me. Every match was brutal, but by degrees I climbed up. I killed another Murmillo for a laurel, and with that I could breathe a little easier. With three laurels and a number of bodies at my feet, the crowd knew my name and they wanted to see more. When I did lose, they didn't want me dead.
Finally I claimed enough victories to increase my rank. I wouldn't be going to Latium just yet, but I was one step closer to the Coliseum.
There was only one foe between me and the goal. Severus. (breaking character for a sec to explain. The game has a system to roll for opponents. I added an extra roll to give myself a small chance of seeing old opponents. If I get 7 or below on the first 1d10 I fight a Murmillo. If I roll again and get 3 or below, it's a rematch. This one was Severus. Very serendipitous.)
Now it was time for the test. When I first came to the Germanian arena, Severus showed me just how shitty I was at this whole gladiation thing. Now, if I wanted to advance in rank, I had to prove I'd learned his lesson. Very serendipitous indeed.
We went at it. This time I played careful. I stayed out of reach and jabbed with my spear, using light attacks to conserve my stamina for the long haul. He closed the gap and with a lucky shot I pushed him back. Bit by bit I was wearing him down.
With a gap between us once again, I took a jab with my spear. It was meant to keep poking him down. A misstep. The spear went past his shield and straight into his chest. Mere moments into the battle, not even long enough to break a sweat, Severus went down and didn't get up.
So now I'm at the top of the Gallic circuit. I know what's up and I'm easily a match for anyone I go up against. With four laurels it's unlikely the crowd will turn against me if I do lose. As long as I don't go down like Severus, I'll be moving up in the world soon, hitting Latium where shit gets real. In Latium, sometimes they do fights to the death.