While the movie captures the essence of the times, the historical record is very sketchy and the specific events are fictionalized. There is much fighting and killing but gore raises its ugly head on only two occasions, once when Crassus stabs a rebelling gladiator in the back of the neck and is spattered with blood and once when Spartacus cuts off the arm of a Roman soldier in battle. There are no graphic scenes of sexual activity. However, we are shown the slave women parceled out to the gladiators for sex and Crassus attempting to seduce his male slave, who promptly runs away to join the rebellion. There is also much talk of Roman men having their way with their slave girls.
Slavery is about oppression, exploitation, violence and reprisal.
Best Film Editing, Best Music. Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, Charles Laughton, Herbert Lom, Nina Foch, Woody Strode, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, John Ireland, Charles McGraw, Joanna Barnes. Few facts are known about the slave rebellion lead by Spartacus. About 70 slave gladiators broke out of the school and set up camp on the slopes of mount Vesuvius. They were joined by about 70,000 slaves fleeing from harsh conditions.