Spartacus in popular culture

There have been several depictions of Spartacus and his rebellion through feature films, television shows, documentaries and theatrical plays, as well as historical fiction novels and comic books.

## 1873 Raffaello Giovagnoli Publication

Italian writer Raffaello Giovagnoli wrote a story of Spartacus in his instalments published in the *Fanfulla* between 1873 and 1874

## Spartacus - 1909 film

* Directed by: **Oreste Gherardini**
* Starring: **Oreste Gherardini**

The first adaptation of Spartacus was a short film made in 1909 by **Oreste Gherardini**, who directed and starred in it as Spartacus. It is since however become a lost film. The second adaptation of Giovagnoli's novel also became the first full feature adaptation of Spartacus in 1913.

## Spartacus - 1913 film

* Directed by: **Giovanni Enrico Vidali**
* Starring: **Mario Guaita-Ausonia**, **Cristina Ruspoli**, **Enrico Bracci**, **Maria Gandini**, **Luigi Mele**, **Verdi Giovanni**, **Luciano Albertini**, **Alberto Capozzi**, **Signor Fretti**, **Achille Majeroni**, **Leo Ragusi**
* Plot: In Eastern Greece, the young Thracian Spartacus is carried as a slave to Rome. His owner, Marcus Crassus, soon asks the powerful youth to stand as a gladiator in the lion arena. Life as a Roman slave under his new master, Consul Crassus, is extremely hard and unjust, even though his love for Crassus' daughter also allows him beautiful moments. When the genius-driven Crassus demands a fight to the death with Amoricus, the fiancée of Spartacus' sister, a revolt against the Romans breaks out. With the help of other gladiators and slaves Spartacus dares the great liberation blow, wrestling the Romans in a surprise coup and fleeing from Rome. At last, in freedom, the proud Thracian begins with the construction of his own army, with which he wants to compete against the house-superior Roman troops. When he heard Senate's news of a revolt against Rome, hasty resolutions were made to counter-defend this rebellion.Spartacus has fallen in love with a country woman, a young Thracian. The first military clash between the Spartocian rebels and the Roman army is taking place in Apulia, near the ancient city of Petilia. Spartacus emerges as the victor in the battle against the troops of his former owner Crassus, but the Spartacus faithful are completely rubbed off in the slaughter in Lucania. Spartacus himself is the victim of a sneaky intrigue and dies a cruel Martys death.

### Historical Accuracy

* Spartacus becomes involved romantically with a Thracian woman. Historically it is said he had a wife, also a Thracian like himself.

### Historical Inaccuracies

* Spartacus is shown to be a slave of Marcus Licinius Crassus (Spartacus was never a slave of Crassus, and was instead a slave of a Lanista named Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus)
* Crassus is shown to have a daughter (historically he only had two sons, Marcus and Publius)
* Spartacus and his fellow Gladiators and slaves escape from a villa of Crassus, and escape Rome (historically Spartacus and the others escaped from Capua, from the Ludus of Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus)
* Crassus is killed during the Third Servile War. Historically Crassus was killed in 53 BC, in

## Spartak - 1926 film

Spartak was a 1926 Soviet production directed by Muhsin Ertuğrul, and written by Ukrainian futurist poet Geo Shkurupii.

and the third and presumably final adaptation of Raffaello Giovagnoli's novel. Like the 1909 short film directed by Oreste Gherardini, it has become a lost film. It starred Nikolai Deinar, Matvei Lyarov and A. Simonov. The music score was written by the famous Aram Khachaturyan (later he used it while creating his masterpiece ballet ‘Spartacus’ (1954)).

More than 3000 citizens of Odessa was participating in its production. Ilya Il’f mentioned its shooting calling the film «something very ancient Roman». The scandalous story of the production of the ‘Spartak’ was included in the original version of the novel «The Little Golden Calf» by Il’f and Petrov.

‘A Fresh Wind’ was a social drama about a victory of fishermen over rich extortionists, and a debut for all its creators: screenwriters M. Zats and S. Reznikov, Ukrainian director Georgy Stabovoi, Soviet cinematographer Daniil Demutsky (1893-1954) who later became one of the greatest Soviet cinematographers, and almost all actors.

## Sins of Rome - 1953 film

* Directed by: **Riccardo Freda**
* Starring: **Massimo Girotti**, **Ludmilla Tchérina**, **Gianna Maria Canale**, **Yves Vincent**, **Carlo Ninchi**, **Carlo Giustini**, **Teresa Franchini**, **Vittorio Sanipoli**, **Umberto Silvestri**, **Renato Baldini**
* Plot: In 74 BC, somewhere in the Roman Empire, Spartacus, a young officer, is condemned to be a slave by general Marcus Licinius Crassus because he hit a superior. Brought back to Rome and condemned to a gladiators' school, he escapes and stirs up all the slaves in a revolt against the Roman Empire.

### Historical Accuracy

* Spartacus was a legionary in the Roman army.
* Spartacus was enslaved while in Thrace and taken to Italy where he is then purchased to be trained as a gladiator.
* Spartacus is killed during the final battle (in the film he is dies after speaking his final words to Amitis, who plays a similar role to Varinia in the 1960 and 2004 films)

### Historical Deviations

* One of the main characters, Sabina, is the daughter of Marcus Crassus (historically Crassus did not have any daughters).
* Spartacus is enslaved for assaulting a commanding officer (historically he was enslaved after his desertion from the legion). It also assumes him having being enslaved in 74 BC when he was said to have spent at least 2 years in Batiatus' ludus, in which case he would have been enslaved in at 75 or 76 BC.

## Spartacus - 1960 film

* Directed by: **Stanley Kubrick**
* Starring: **Kirk Douglas**, **Laurence Olivier**, **Jean Simmons**, **Charles Laughton**, **Peter Ustinov**, **Tony Curtis**, **John Gavin**
* Plot: Spartacus is purchased by Lentulus Batiatus and trained as a gladiator. After entertaining the wealthy Marcus Crassus and his guests.

### Historical Accuracy

* Crassus crucifies the surviving rebels along the Appian Way.
* Spartacus defeats Claudius Glaber (renamed Titus Glabrus).
* Spartacus strikes a deal with the Cilician pirates and is later betrayed.

### Historical Deviations

* Crassus arrives at Batiatus' ludus, and has two pairs of gladiators fight to the death (historically he would have never partaken in such an activity, but would have used his immense wealth to sponsor games in Rome).
* Crassus elects himself to deal with Spartacus (historically he was appointed by the senate to defeat Spartacus)
* Spartacus raises an army of 9,000 slaves (historically Spartacus' army numbered over 60-100,000 slaves).
* Claudius Glaber (renamed Marcus Glabrus) is not killed by Spartacus but is sent back to Rome. Marcus Glabrus is shown to be a close friend of Crassus.
* Spartacus is said to have been born into slavery (historically he was a Roman legionary who was enslaved for desertion)
* Spartacus is sent to Rome after the final battle and is crucified (historically his body was never found)
* Spartacus was purchased from the mines by Lentulus Batiatus (historically he was sold to Batiatus' ludus after being enslaved by the Romans)
* Crixus remains with Spartacus and is killed in the final battle against Crassus in 71 BC (historically he seperates from Spartacus with 30,000 rebels and was killed in 72 BC by Gellius Publicola and his soldiers at the Battle of Mount Garganus)

### Trivia

* During the scene where Varinia is paired with Spartacus for sexual intercourse, the *Doctore* Marcellus originally pairs her with a Gladiator called Dionysus. This is ironic since the wife of Spartacus is said to have been a priestess of the god Dionysus.

## Challenge of the Gladiator - 1965

* Directed by: **Domenico Paolella**
* Starring: **Peter Lupus**, **Massimo Serato**, **Gloria Milland**, **Livio Lorenzon**, **Piero Lulli**, **Walter Barnes**, **Andrea Checchi**, **Dario Michaelis**, **Franco Ressel**, **Bruno Scipioni**, **Salvatore Borghese**
* Plot: Treacherous Roman senator Lucius Quintilius plans a secret journey into Thrace to recover a legendary treasure. He is accompanied by his daughter Livia posing as a Christian slave girl, his cruel henchman Commodio, and Terenzius, an ex-gladiator and Nero look-alike who fools the local Thracians into believing he is the real Emperor. But Lucius's plans are thwarted by Spartacus and his band of rebels who succeed in capturing the treasure for Thrace. When news arrives from Rome that the real Nero has died, local Roman governor Consul Metellus joins forces with Spartacus to defeat the traitors.

## 2004 Miniseries

* Directed by: **Robert Dornhelm**
* Starring: **Goran Višnjić**, **Alan Bates**, **Angus Macfadyen**, **Rhona Mitra**, **Ian McNeice**, **Paul Kynman**, **Paul Telfer**, **James Frain**
* Plot: After he is bought by the owner of a Roman gladiator school and trained as an gladiator A slave leads a rebellion of slaves and gladiators into revolt against Rome.

### Historical accuracies

* Claudius Glaber (renamed Titus Glabrus) and his army is defeated by Spartacus and the rebels at Mount Vesuvius
* Publius Varinius (renamed Publius Maximus) and his army is defeated by Spartacus and the rebels.
* The battle against Mummius occurs, though it is only mentioned, and not shown.
* Crassus crucifies the surviving rebels along the Appian Way.
* Spartacus strikes a deal with the Cilician pirates and is later betrayed.

### Historical Deviations

* Spartacus is stabbed to death in the final battle (historically his body was never found)
* Mummius, one of Crassus' tribunes in 71 BC, and Commodus (not historical), are forced to fight as gladiators (historically, it was the 600 legionaries from Lentulus and Publicola's legions who were forced into gladiatorial combat).
* Marcus Crassus uses decimation on his legions, with 150 soldiers being killed (historically it would have been around 48-50 soldiers, having been selected from a single cohort)
* Two other rebel leaders are **Nardo** (a Numidian) and **David** (a Judean), who take the places of the two other historic leaders Oenomaus and Castus.
* The movie has Varinius (Publius Maximus) being killed during his battle against Spartacus (Historically, he survived, becoming governor of the province of Asia in 65 BC).
* Neither Oenomaus or Castus appear in the film.
* Crixus claims to have been in the previous slave rebellion led in Sicily (the **Second Servile war**) which happened 26 years prior.
* Gannicus is reimagined as a Thracian (historically he was a Celt)
* Spartacus was purchased from the mines by Lentulus Batiatus (historically he was sold to Batiatus' ludus after being enslaved by the Romans)
* Gannicus is killed in the final battle against Crassus (historically he died in the Battle of Cantenna)
* Crixus is killed by Crassus' troops shortly after the latter separates from Spartacus (historically he dies in the Battle of Mount Garganus in 72 BC)
* In the senate scene at the end of the film, Caesar proposes "Dual Consulship" between Pompey and Crassus. This is inaccurate as the Consulship was a dual position ever since the Republic was founded in 509 BC.

## 2005 Animated TV show

* **Directed by**: Orlando Corradi
* Voice cast:
* **Plot**: Spartacus leaves his family to join the Roman army. He is eventually framed for a crime and chooses enslavement as a gladiator as punishment.
* **Episodes**: 13

### Historical accuracies

* Spartacus joins the Roman army
* Spartacus is enslaved during
* The prophecy about Spartacus' destiny being great but unfortunate is included, except it comes from an Oracle, instead of from Spartacus' wife, a priestess.
* Gaius Julius Caesar is depicted as being in Crassus' legions (historically it is unknown if Caesar had any part in Spartacus' revolt)
* Crassus is named **Longinus Crassus** in the show (historically he was named **Marcus Licinius Crassus**)

### Historical inaccuracies

* Spartacus is depicted as being of Roman birth (historically he was said to be Thracian)
* In Episode 5, Spartacus kills Batiatus by throwing a Gladius into his heart (historically it is unknown if he killed Batiatus or not)
* Spartacus has two lieutenants, Gallus and Egizius (historically he had four: Oenomaus, Crixus, Gannicus and Castus)

## 2010 - 2013 Starz TV series

* Directed by: Numerous directors
* Starring: **Andy Whitfield**, **Manu Bennett**, **Liam Mcintyre**, **Lucy Lawless**, **Dustin Clare, Craig Parker, Daniel Feuerriegel, John Hannah, Nick Tarabay, Pana Hema Taylor, Peter Mensah, Simon Merrells, Todd Lasance, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Ellen Hollman, Katrina Law, Lucy Lawless.**
* Plot: Spartacus is betrayed and enslaved by Claudius Glaber and sent to Capua and trained as a gladiator.
* Episodes: 34

#### Blood and Sand

The series begins in Thrace, where a Thracian tribe called the Maedi agree to enlist in the Roman auxiliary commanded by Legatus Gaius Claudius Glaber. Among them is a Thracian who demands that every last member of the Getae tribe be wiped out, the man who will soon be known as Spartacus. This man, along with the other men of his tribe, fight to the death to beat back their Getae, with only minor help from the Roman army. Soon learning that Glaber intends to march on the Maedi's people, the Thracian and the other men decide to desert the army. Not before long, the Thracian and his wife are enslaved, with the him being sent to Capua to die in the Arena.
The Thracian wins against his executioners in the Arena, and is given the name Spartacus. He is purchased by Lanista Quintus Lentulus Batiatus to be trained as a Gladiator in his ludus.
He suffers mercilessly through the instruction of his Doctore Oenomaus, and his growing rivalry with Crixus, named the Undefeated Gaul. After almost being executed again in the Arena from a foolish fight against Crixus, Spartacus is forced to restore his position as a gladiator by fighting in the Pits, a brutal, lawless and much smaller arena where few rules exist between the fighters. He soon earns back his place among the gladiators, and continues his training. Spartacus, alongside
Surviving in a world of treachery, schemes and blood in the Arena, Spartacus must continuously battle with his own conscience, but how long will it be until he uses it against his true enemies.
#### Vengeance

The series takes place a number of weeks after the massacre at Batiatus' ludus. The rebels have terrorized Capua for weeks and Claudius Glaber is sent to suppress the revolt
#### Gods of the Arena

A prequel of the series, taking place 5 years before the events of Blood and Sand. It reveals the origin of Crixus, his rise to champion in the house of Batiatus, Oenomaus becoming Doctore and introduces the previous champion, Gannicus.
#### War of the Damned

Takes place 6 months to a year after the defeat of Glaber, the rebels have become an army of over 30,000. Their string of defeats against the Romans have now caused the senate to appoint Marcus Licinius Crassus to defeat the rebellion once and for all.
### Historical Accuracies

* The rebels defeat Claudius Glaber and his forces at Mount Vesuvius
* The rebels have defeated Tremellius Scrofa, Lucius Furius and Cossinius in separate battles during the rebellion
* After the rebels are defeated the survivors are crucified along the Appian Way by Crassus
* After the death of Crixus, Spartacus makes funeral games to honor him, forcing Romans to fight to the death.

### Historical Deviations

* The gladiators escape from the Ludus of Lentulus Batiatus during a house party and use swords to make their escape (historically they escaped using kitchen implements and chopping knives)
* Around 40 gladiators begin the revolt (historically the revolt started with 200 gladiators, and only 78 survived and escaped the ludus)
* Gladiators in the show are depicted as fighting to the death in every match until one has been killed. However most gladiators were not killed in the arena, and kept alive due to the high cost of slaves.
* In the show 6 slaves are purchased by Batiatus for 100 denarii. The average price for a slave was 960-4000 denarii (with the cheapest known costing 75 denarii and the most expensive even reaching as much as 50,000 including tax, in the case of a pretty girl).
* Crixus is beheaded in a battle a few miles from Rome (historically he died in Apulia during a battle against Consul Gellius Publicola in 72 BC at the Battle of Mount Garganus)
* Gannicus is crucified after the final battle against Crassus with the remainder of Spartacus' force (historically he died with his own army of rebels in the Battle of Cantenna)
* Lentulus Batiatus is renamed **Quintus Lentulus Batiatus** (historically he was called **Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus**)
* Batiatus is killed by Spartacus during the escape from the ludus (it is unknown if he was actually killed)
* Oenomaus is reimagined as a Numidian and the doctore of the house of Batiatus (historically Oenomaus was a Gaul)
* In the fourth episode of War of the Damned, Crassus uses Decimation on 50 soldiers who retreated in a short battle against the rebels and the Cilician pirates, killing 5 of his men (historically around 10,000 retreated. Crassus chose either a cohort of 480-500 men and decimated 50 or decimated the entire 10,000, killing 1,000)
* Castus is reimagined as a Numidian and a member of the Cilician pirates (historically he was either a Roman or a Gaul and a leader of the rebellion), and he only appears in the last season.
* Publius Varinius and Quintus Arrius are both killed in the series, (Historically they both survived, Varinius becoming governor of the province of Asia in 65 BC, and Arrius continued in politics until he retired in 52 BC).
* The rebels take over the city of Sinuessa (there are no sources to support this)
* By War of the Damned, the rebel army has grown to 30,000 rebels (historically it grew to over 60,000)
* Agron, a German, becomes a leader of the rebellion (there was no actual rebel leader called Agron)
* Marcus Crassus has a son named Tiberius (historically he only had two sons: **Marcus** and **Publius**)
* Julius Caesar is involved with Crassus' campaign against Spartacus (it is unknown wether Caesar was involved in the Third Servile War, however many historians agree to this)
* Gannicus is crucified with the others along the Appian Way (historically he died in the Battle of Cantenna)
* Castus dies in the final battle (historically he died with Gannicus in the Battle of Cantenna)
* Crassus crucifies the prisoners before news arrives that Pompey has been rewarded for "defeating" the rebellion (historically he crucifies the prisoners after the news arrives, so Rome would not forget what he did).

## Films including Spartacus

### The Slave

* Director: **Sergio Corbucci**
* Starring: **Steve Reeves**, **Gianna Maria Canale**, **Claudio Gora**, **Jacques Sernas**, **Ombretta Colli**, **Ivo Garrani**, **Enzo Fiermonte**, **Ahmed Ramzy**, **Franco Balducci**, **Roland Bartrop**, **Renato Baldini**
* Plot: The Decurion Randus holds himself so well in the command of his troops, that Caesar promotes him to centurion. He is subsequently sent to Egypt, to keep Caesar informed on the actions and intentions of co-triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus - a man too rich, and ambitious, for Caesar's comfort. A fateful sea trip from Egypt to Rome forces Randus in captivity by mercenary troops, and leads a revolt by which he gets freedom for himself, and all the other slaves. Through an amulet he received from his late mother, a man who had fought by Spartacus' side, identifies the young man as Spartacus' and Varinia's son. At first reluctant to accept this story about his origins, Randus will be forced by the circumstances to repeat the feat of his father, twenty years later.

### The Revenge of Spartacus

* Director: **Michele Lupo**
* Starring: **Roger Browne**, **Scilla Gabel**, **Giacomo Rossi-Stuart**, **Daniele Vargas**, **Germano Longo**, **Gianni Solaro**, **Franco Di Trocchio**, **Gian Paolo Rosmino**, **Alfio Caltabiano**, **Pietro Ceccarelli**, **Pietro Marascalchi**, **Mario Novelli**, **Nello Pazzafini**, **Calisto Calisti**, **Antonio Corevi**
* Plot: Arminio and Trasone do believe that the legendary Spartacus is still alive and has organized a group of armed men to destroy the Romans. Valerio, Roman legionary, he discovers the deception and attempts to warn those who believe in the false news. The attempt is unsuccessful . After killing the two Spartacists, Valerio and his followers fought against the remaining forces of Arminius , defeating them after a bitter battle.

### Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators

* Director: **Nick Nostro**
* Starring: **Dan Vadis**, **Helga Liné**, **Alfredo Varelli**, **Ursula Davis**, **Gianni Rizzo**, **Enzo Fiermonte**, **Salvatore Borghese**, **Milton Reid**, **Aldo Canti**, **Ivano Staccioli**
* Plot: Rocca and nine other gladiators are blacklisted from fighting in the Arena again, but are given the opportunity to return by Senator Varro in any venue they wish. To gain this opportunity, they are charged with capturing the elusive Spartacus, but will ultimately decide, whether to fight the rebel leader, or to join him.

### Historical Deviations

* In the film, Spartacus is said to have been the slave of Senator Varro (historically Spartacus was slave to Lentulus Batiatus).
* In Spartacus' camp, his own tent is said to be different than the other tents (historically it is assumed that he kept his identity hidden, and so would have lives the same as the others with the same tent and food).

## Documentaries and shows

* Episode 2 on the documentary series ***Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire*** depicts Spartacus' revolt. The episode shows the escape from Batiatus' ludus, followed by their victories over Glaber, Varinius, Furius and Cossinius, Gellius and Lentulus and their defeat by Crassus. The documentary also shows Crixus pitting captured Roman soldiers against each other as gladiators.
* An episode of the television show ***Heroes and Villains*** depicts Spartacus' rebellion. The episode shows the defeat of Claudius Glaber and a few other commanders with their armies. Oenomaus is also shown to have lived through most of the rebellion, and a close friend of Spartacus.

## Books

* *Spartacus*, a novel written by **Raffaello Giovagnoli** in 1874. The 1913 film was an adaptation of Giovagnoli's book.
* Spartacus, a novel written in 1933 by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, is told from the perspective of Kleon, a slave who joins the revolt.
* *Spartacus*, a novel written by **Howard Fast** in . It is the basis for the 1960 film and the 2004 miniseries.
* *Spartacus the Gladiator*, and the sequel *Spartacus: Rebellion*, books written by **Ben Kane**.
* *The Spartacus War*, an historical account of Spartacus written by historian **Barry Strauss**.
* The Gladiator series written by **Simon Scarrow**, including *Spartacus: Fight for Freedom, Street Fight, Son of Spartacus* and *Vengeance.* The series is set 13 years following Spartacus' defeat, in 58 BC.

### Howard Fast *Spartacus* Novel (1951)

American writer Howard Fast released his novel in 1951, which was eventually used by screenwriter Dalton Trumbo as the basis of the 1960 film. The film introduced several elements seen in the 1960 film, the 2004 miniseries (which is largely based off the 1960 film), and the 2010-2013 Spartacus TV series, including Spartacus' common exaggeration as a Freedom fighter.

* The novel also portrays Romans turning the corpses of several dead gladiators into sausage meat (which would have been a big taboo, even during Roman times)

## Parodies and other depictions

* In the Family Guy episode "Quagmire and Meg", Quagmire fails to believe that Peter would stand up to his friend when Quagmire tries to get into Meg's pants. Peter tells him he stood up to Spartacus and would stand up to Quagmire as well. A cutaway shows a couple of Greek slaves standing up and announcing that they are Spartacus and Peter points out the real Spartacus.
* Spartacus is mentioned in an Episode of Horrible Histories, which has Pompey (instead of Crassus) imposing decimation on his troops

## Wife of Spartacus

* *Main Article: Tresura*

Spartacus was said to have had a wife, who like him, was a Thracian and was enslaved alongside him when he deserted from the Roman army. She was also a priestess, most likely of Dionysus the god of wine. During the rebellion, she possibly would have used this to Spartacus' advantage, telling the rebels that Spartacus was a god, or a demigod. It is unknown what ultimately happened to her, if she even existed.

Spartacus' wife has been given many names in the several depictions, and has been given several origins of her life with Spartacus:

* In the 1831 play, she is named Senona, and is enslaved with Spartacus along with their son.

* Varinia is the name of Spartacus' consort and later wife who appears in both the 1960 film and the 2004 miniseries. In the 1960 film, she is re-imagined as a Celt from Britannia (modern Britain) and becomes pregnant with his child. At the end of the film, she sees him crucified outside of Rome with their baby son before he dies, leaving with their son to live in freedom.

* In the 2004 miniseries, she is re-imagined as a Gallic woman. After having a miscarriage in the middle of the rebellion, she becomes pregnant again, later giving birth to a son just as Spartacus is killed in the final battle, and decides to name him Spartacus. Like the 1960 film, she later escapes Rome (this time being escorted out by Flavius, a friend of senator Agrippa) and settles in an unknown village, raising her son there in peace.
* In the Spartacus episode of the 2008 ***"Heroes and Villains"*** miniseries, Spartacus' wife is portrayed by Nadia Boussetta.

* In the 2010 TV show **Spartacus: Blood and Sand**, Spartacus' wife is named Sura, and is enslaved along with him by Legatus Claudius Glaber. Spartacus' winnings in both the Arena and the Pits purchases Sura towards Capua, but is left near dead and dies in Spartacus' arms upon her arrival. It is later revealed that she was killed on the orders of Lentulus Batiatus, starting the rebellion.

## Main Characters

### Spartacus

* Spartacus was portrayed by **Mario Guaita-Ausonia** in the 1913 Spartacus film.
* Spartacus was portrayed by **Massimo Girotti** in the 1953 film ***Sins of Rome***. In this version he becomes enslaved on the orders of Marcus Crassus.
* Spartacus was portrayed by **Kirk Douglas** in the 1960 film ***Spartacus***.
* He was portrayed by **Peter Lupus** in the 1965 film ***Challenge of the Gladiator***.
* He was later portrayed by actor **Goran Višnjić** in the 2004 miniseries adaptation. In this adaptation he is enslaved while fighting the Romans.
* In the 2008 Docudrama **Heroes and Villains: Spartacus**, he was portrayed by **Anthony Flanagan**.
* In the Starz original series, Spartacus, he was portrayed both respectively by **Andy Whitfield** in the first season: **Blood and Sand**, and by **Liam McIntyre**, in the two sequels: **Vengeance** and **War of the Damned**.

### Crixus

* Crixus was first portrayed by **Jon Ireland** in the 1960 film Spartacus.
* Crixus was also protrayed by **Paul Kynman** in the 2004 miniseries.
* Crixus is portrayed by **Andrew Tiernan** in the 2008 Docudrama Heroes and Villains
* Crixus was later portrayed by **Manu Bennett** in the Starz television series.

### Oenomaus

* Oenomaus is a main character and the narrator of the 2008 docudrama, **Heroes and Villains: Spartacus**.
* Oenomaus' is a main character in the Starz original series *Spartacus*, appearing in ***Blood and Sand***, ***Gods of the Arena*** and ***Vengeance***. In the series he is portrayed by Peter Mensah and is re-imagined as a Numidian, and as the trainer (*Doctore*) of Batiatus' gladiators.

### Gannicus

* While not a major or present character, Gannicus was first portrayed by **Paul Lambert** in the 1960 Spartacus film.
* Gannicus was later portrayed by **Paul Telfer** in the 2004 miniseries. In the movie, Gannicus is reimagined as a Thracian.
* Gannicus was later portrayed by **Dustin Claire** in the Starz original series. He appeared in the prequel series: **Gods of the Arena**, and later the second and third seasons: **Vengeance** and **War of the Damned.**

### Lentulus Batiatus

* Batiatus was portrayed by portrayed by Peter Ustinov in the 1960 *Spartacus*.
* Batiatus was portrayed by Ian McNeice in the 2004 Spartacus miniseries.
* Batiatus is portrayed by Mark Wingett in the 2008 ***"Heroes and Villains" Spartacus*** episode.
* Batiatus was portrayed by John Hannah in the Starz original series **Spartacus**., starring in its first two seasons, **Blood and Sand** and **Gods of the Arena**. In the series, he is renamed Quintus Lentulus Batiatus.

### Gaius Claudius Glaber

* Claudius Glaber was first portrayed by **John Dall** in the 1960 film Spartacus. In the movie he is renamed Marcus Publius Glabrus, and he is a close friend of Marcus Crassus. After his defeat by Spartacus, he is punished with banishment, and denied refuse or supplies.
* Glaber was also portrayed by **Ben Cross** 40 years later in the 2004 miniseries Spartacus. He was also renamed Titus Glabrus. Like his historic counterpart, he greatly underestimates Spartacus, leading to him refusing to build defensive fortifications, allowing Spartacus and his army to sneak into his camp and defeat him. Glabrus is killed by Spartacus.
* From 2010 to 2012, he was portrayed by **Craig Parker** in the Starz original series, from **Spartacus: Vengeance**and **Spartacus: War of the Damned**. This portrayal of Glaber sees him as the cause of Spartacus' enslavement and a main antagonist of the series.

### Publius Varinius

* Varinius was first portrayed by Niall Refoy in the 2004 miniseries *Spartacus*. In the miniseries, he leads two Legions against Spartacus after Glaber's defeat. In the miniseries he is renamed Publius Maximus.
* Varinius was portrayed by Brett Tucker in the Starz *Spartacus* television series. In the series he is the political and romantic rival of Glaber. He is ultimately killed during the Battle of Mount Vesuvius.

### Marcus Licinius Crassus

* Crassus was first portrayed by **Enrico Bracci** in the 1913 Spartacus film.
* Crassus was portrayed by **Carlo Ninchi** in the 1953 film *Sins of Rome*, where he is the one who orders Spartacus' enslavement after the latter had assaulted a superior officer.
* Crassus was portrayed by **Laurence Olivier** in the 1960 film Spartacus.
* He was later portrayed by **Angus Macfadyen** in the 2004 miniseries adaption. Unlike the 1960 portrayal.
* He was portrayed by **Robert Glenister** in the 2008 Docudrama Heroes and Villains: Spartacus.
* In the stars original series, he is a mentioned character in the first two seasons and makes his first appearance in the third and final season, **War of the Damned**, portrayed by **Simon Merrels**.