Explanation: During the Third Servile War, a slave uprising led by gladiators, the Roman Republic endured several defeats at the hands of the rebel army which ravaged large stretches of Italy. Rome, despite being immensely warlike, was not expecting to fight a war on Italian soil, and so was unprepared for the uprising. Despite the initial success, the meandering of the rebel army, led primarily by a gladiator veteran called “Spartacus”, stalled it for long enough for Rome to re-organize itself and defeat the rebels. After they were defeated, the rebel army refused to give Spartacus up - either out of loyalty, or because he had already died in the battle. Rome, terrified by the first major war on Italian soil in over a hundred years, crucified all of them along the Appian Way, a major road.
By popular imagining, the refusal of the rebels to give up Spartacus is, by the excellent but not particularly accurate 1960 film Spartacus, performed by them all claiming to be Spartacus to the Romans, rendering any attempt to find the ‘real’ Spartacus impossible. This is not supported by any historical accounts of the war, but is cool as fuck.
The show Spartacus was also pretty goddamn cool. it’s like Sam Rami thought to himself, “I should make soft-core gay gladiator porn in the visual style of 300, but, ya know, about Spartacus,” and then did just that.
if you don’t mind seeing lots of gladiator dick, the show is still pretty great. it went on for 4 seasons.
De gustibus non disputandum est
assentior
In vino veritas
Do we also get bush? I like an even split
it might. I’m only just starting the 2nd episode, but if it’s like the original, it will. lots.
Excellent, that means I can sell my wife on it
also, it seems a bit funnier than the original. also, the story its a bit more abstract-- unlike the original, it’s not based on history-- but rather a what-if of if Ashur had survived the revolt. it’s interesting, but the narrative isn’t clear. like-- I don’t really know where they’re going with this, while the story/legend of Spartacus is well-worn territory. I like that’s original, even if it’s a sort of sequel based on a previously-dead character.
what I really appreciate (besides all the hot men) is how they have kept the idiosyncratic vocabulary/syntax of the dialog that makes it seem like latin directly translated into English, rather than all the characters speaking like they live in 2025.
And a new show premiered a few weeks ago. Spartacus: House of Ashur.
From wikipedia:
The series features an alternate history for Ashur, where he was not killed on Mount Vesuvius during the second season of Spartacus. Instead he is gifted a ludus in return for aiding the Romans in ending the slave rebellion.
yeah, and it’s pretty good, too-- although not as good as the original
oh, and for any fans of the original: yes, there’s just as much dick in this one as the original. possibly more!
I feel like Rome would have done that to them all anyway
Ifykyk
