I'm kind of surprised this sort of spectacle no longer exists. Considering the enormous popularity of depictions of violence in mass media, sports, and video games, real gladitorial games would probably be pretty popular. You'd think at least some third world country without much concern for pesky thinks like morals, ethics, or human rights, or animal welfare would have them.
For the same reason the said games fell out of favor in the public perception. Christianity gained power. Not to say that torture and murder were not taken place under christian priests' sight if not command, but in the later the cause was always punitive in regard to or attempts to gain cooperation from victims, whereas the former were for show and entertainment alone.
