Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first Roman gladiator games occurred in 264 BC when Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva ordered three pairs to fight to the death. This event took place in Rome's Forum Boarium to honor his father, Brutus Pera.
An imperial praetor's official game could cost no less than 180,000 denarii while a single match might involve 120 gladiators. Augustus later capped private expenditure on games to prevent elite bankruptcies and restricted munera to specific festivals like Saturnalia.
Matches between a retiarius armed with a net and trident and a heavily armored secutor lasted ten to fifteen minutes. These combatants represented distinct fighting styles derived from Rome's former enemies such as Samnites, Thracians, and Gauls.
The earliest named gladiator school belonged to Aurelius Scaurus at Capua circa 105 BC. Novices trained under teachers who were often retired gladiators and learned choreographed numbers rather than lethal combat using weighted wooden weapons.
Honorius legally ended gladiator games in 399 AD following the martyrdom of Saint Telemachus. Valentinian III repeated the ban in 438 AD though venationes continued beyond 536 AD.