In the nation’s beginning, everyone within the metropolis was their own guard for others. The 1000 surviving gladiators banded together to repel any foreigner(s) that disturbed their sanctuary. Men and women patrolled their small territory with care, sending out scouts to survey the area for threats. As time progressed, these gladiators grew in population. The military of Gladia was yet too small. The justice system then was simple. Royal guards protected the metropolis while more militant forces ventured further around the metropolitan sand dunes, clearing out threats. Everyone was part of the military during this time. Construction housed more gladiators. Storage facilities held their essentials and basis of developing their haven. With such plans, the judicial system held itself accountable to bring in Noxii (untested foreigners) to be tried before a court of interpreters. Their animals sense and sniff out suspicions and corruption from the captives, deeming them hostile to Gladians, evident enough as they can be for the blatant ones. These were simple proceedings back then. 

As the centuries passed, the population was vast and ever growing. Citizens were now part of the nation, no longer bound to militant duties. For the underbelly of Gladians, Insulae, they long established their crime syndicate to test the vigilance of surface dwellers. Officials since then worked to strengthen the policing guards, to train them on detecting criminal activities and defend the public from these surprises. Their efforts go far with every criminal captured and locked away in jail cells. Once an allotted time frame is met, unless broken out by their crime associates, they’re released by the call of the courts notifying the crime syndicate with a charge on bail out. Higher priority captured syndicate criminals are more valuable to Gladia’s judicial system as they prove the law and the public vigilant and aware, but they’re much harder to contain within bars, for they are protected by gangs, associates, and personal guardians. 

If a crime is committed on the public surface, the offender has minutes to get away from witnesses and hide from the authorities. For the bigger offenses committed, a larger time span of searchers remain on alert. When the time frame expires, the offender is considered non-detainable. Any offenders wanting to evade the authorities, especially on their tail, almost always flee into the Insulae District. From there, public jurisdiction is out of bounds, surface authorities are held back by Insulae’s own authorities. Oftentimes, few metropolitan guards would face off spotted criminals, if available bounties are placed on them. Guards would sometimes avoid the hassle of bringing in petty criminals when the brief time to capture them has expired. The more active criminals tend to stay out of the public surface, leaning to blending in with large crowds and keeping a low profile to avoid confrontations while they perform their crimes.

The goal of the judicial system is to delegate systems in place to detain, capture, and maintain a due process on criminal gladiators, largely for the simulation of what real justice systems are in play within the outer world. It’s been made more apparent that these systems are much more complex as advancements of crime get creative. New plots, nefarious deeds, and black market dealings deep under the nation’s sands bring out more sophisticated methods of how the law of Gladia must advance their own tactics on detecting these threats. 

The modern era of Gladia is massively populated with tens of thousands of Gladians roaming the surfaces and thousands within underground network tunnels. Hundreds of citizens and warriors roam the surface at night, whether working really late, or being regular night owls, the metro guards as always keep an eye, patrolling around the nightly neighborhoods, courteously checking up on passing pedestrians as to their activities late in the night.