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Colleen McCullough puts forth in her Rome series that there was two levels of Gladiators. Those that volunteered that were "Entertainers" and those that were slaves. Her theory of Spartucus being a Roman Legate that had fallen out of favor and sent to be a "voluntary gladiator" for a while only to be sent to a slave gladiator school since he would not play by the rules and killed his opponents. The Senate covered up his origins, since it was known that a Roman could not enslave another Roman "wink" "wink". It would of been taboo, so he was made out to be a Thracian(sp?) slave. I don't know where she gets the facts to help form up such a theory, but does sound plausible.

It sounds like one persons revisionist history to me, but then again there could be an air of truth to it inpart or in full.