" Like you? Or the Lanista?” She laughed, a throaty chuckle that sounded almost like a warning growl, and shook her head. “You should have seen her back in her arena days,” she said. “After her accident she retrained herself to fight in a way that turns injuries into assets, weakness into strength. But you should have seen her then. She was the original, and she was the best.” “What do you mean, she was the original?” I asked, suppressing the urge to boast that one day I would be best. Better than both of them. “The original gladiatrix.” “She was?” Thalestris nodded. “Caesar sent her into the arena as the first woman ever to compete in the ludi—well, the first of two—and the mob in the stands went wild with excitement. "

― Lesley Livingston , The Valiant (The Valiant, #1)