Hollywood Takes on History: Spartacus

The "Hollywood Takes on History" episodes take a look at movies, as well as television and streaming service series, that either feature historical figures or focus on real-life events. During each episode, we highlight what the production got right historically and identify the areas of history in which the movie or show failed to meet a baseline of accuracy. In this episode, host Michael Buckner reviews the American-produced television series Spartacus, which was broadcast on the Starz cable channel from January 22, 2010, to April 12, 2013. The series featured Andy Whitfield and, due to Andy’s post-Season One battle with, and later death from, cancer, Liam McIntyre, as Spartacus; Manu Bennett played Crixus; Lucy Lawless as Lucretia; and a cast of excellent actors. The show took place during the late Roman Republic and focused on Spartacus, who was born in Thrace, which was a region in Southeast Europe now forming parts of Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. Spartacus was a former member of the Roman Army auxiliary. The auxiliary soldiers were persons recruited from non-Roman tribes. The auxiliaries assisted the Roman legionary troops in campaigns and battles. Spartacus’ auxiliary experience enabled him to become familiar with Roman military strategy and tactics, which more than likely aided him in the future slave revolt. Later, after becoming a gladiator, Spartacus started a slave uprising in Capua, Italy that lasted from 73 to 71 BC throughout the Italian peninsula. This slave revolt is also called the Gladiator War; the War of Spartacus; and the Third Sir-vil War since Rome experienced two prior major slave conflicts. The first season of the show was titled “Spartacus: Blood and Sand.” Due to Whitfield’s cancer diagnosis, Starz elected to produce a prequel mini-series entitled “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.” After Whitfield died on September 11, 2011, Starz tapped McIntyre to assume the role of Spartacus in the next two full seasons titled “Spartacus: Vengeance” and “Spartacus: War of the Damned.”