I personally loathed the Stanley Kubrick version of this tale. . .although he was a great director, for sure, it was still the early 60s, and studios hadn't gotten over the Quo Vadis, Ben Hur slog that mandated stories set in the Ancient World had to be viewed through that 50s, Judeo-Christian mindset, even if the story itself had nothing to do with Jesus or the early Christians (just watch the opening of Kubrick's movie to see what I mean). Here, the producers at Starz have created what many thought at first must be a rip-off of 300, complete with poor script, green screen effects, and pointless sex. And that's what I thought at first as well. . But keep watching! Believe me when I say , it gets so much better. Around episode 4 or so, the writing takes a gigantic leap in terms of quality, the acting starts to crystallize as the performers grow comfortable in their roles, and you start to forget that there isn't actually an ampitheatre there (surely saving the show millions in production costs, unlike the doomed HBO series Rome). The story, for the most part, is set in a Ludus (gladiator training school) and the Domus (townhouse) attached to it, in the Roman city of Capua in southern Italy in about 80 BCE. The townhouse and training school are owned by Quintus Batiatus (John Hannah), a scheming social climber, aided and abetted by his equally ambitious wife, Lucretia (Lucy Lawless). Into their world comes Claudius Glaber, a Legatus (commander) in the Army of the Republic. Fearful of losing the opportunity to defeat Mithridates, King of Pontus, menacing the Roman colonies in Asia, Glaber breaks his promise to destroy the barbarian tribes threatening the homes of his Thracian soldiers, who rebel when he orders them to march to Asia Minor. Those rebels not killed are taken in chains back to Italy, to be executed in the arena for treason, it just so happens, in Capua, home of Senator Albinius, father of Glaber's wife, Ilythia. All are killed quite quickly in gladiatorial combat, all, that is, except for the very man who led the rebellion in the first place. Watching the executions is Batiatus, keen on winning favor with the Roman elite by providing ever more sophisticated blood sports for popular festivals. As the rebel kills every single gladiator sent to do him in, Batiatus is duly impressed, and offers to buy him from Glaber. As a pretense, he insists that the rebel won't last two weeks among his school of professional gladiators. The man, whose name no one has cared to ask, is thus inducted into the Ludus, and given the name Spartacus, "after that Thracian king of old".
The rest of the series lets the viewer into a front row seat to the hellish world of the unluckiest of the unlucky in Ancient Rome. The Senators, schemers, Kings and Queens, Emperors and Courtesans are all pushed into the background as we see the stories of the 90+ percent of people in the Roman world; the slaves, the poorest of the poor, and the people just above them on the social ladder, struggling to climb up while equally terrified of falling into the abyss. This is the story of human beings who have lost even the designation of "human being", to become, in effect, living tools, sacrificial entertainment for the wealthiest of the wealthy, or sex toys for bored housewives. It is an unforgiving, despicable world, but not without it's points of light and levity. These people love their children very much, treasure their husbands and wives, and fight for what they think is right. They also have no qualms about watching a man be brutally slaughtered for their child's entertainment. This show is heavy on the blood and sex, sure. But that doesn't mean it isn't also a deep character study of people making a life in one of the worst situations imaginable. It's also one of the most frank depictions of life for the slaves and the downtrodden in the ancient world that I've ever seen.
The rest of the series lets the viewer into a front row seat to the hellish world of the unluckiest of the unlucky in Ancient Rome. The Senators, schemers, Kings and Queens, Emperors and Courtesans are all pushed into the background as we see the stories of the 90+ percent of people in the Roman world; the slaves, the poorest of the poor, and the people just above them on the social ladder, struggling to climb up while equally terrified of falling into the abyss. This is the story of human beings who have lost even the designation of "human being", to become, in effect, living tools, sacrificial entertainment for the wealthiest of the wealthy, or sex toys for bored housewives. It is an unforgiving, despicable world, but not without it's points of light and levity. These people love their children very much, treasure their husbands and wives, and fight for what they think is right. They also have no qualms about watching a man be brutally slaughtered for their child's entertainment. This show is heavy on the blood and sex, sure. But that doesn't mean it isn't also a deep character study of people making a life in one of the worst situations imaginable. It's also one of the most frank depictions of life for the slaves and the downtrodden in the ancient world that I've ever seen.