Spartacus: Blood and Sand

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Genre	Historical drama Sword-and-sandal
Created by	Steven S. DeKnight
Written by	Aaron Helbing Todd Helbing Miranda Kwok Steven S. DeKnight Brent Fletcher Tracy Bellomo Andrew Chambliss Daniel Knauf
Directed by	Michael Hurst Rick Jacobson Jesse Warn
Starring	Andy Whitfield John Hannah Manu Bennett Peter Mensah Viva Bianca Erin Cummings Nick E. Tarabay Katrina Law and Lucy Lawless
Composer	Joseph LoDuca
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Steven S. DeKnight Robert Tapert Sam Raimi Joshua Donen
Producers	Chloe Smith Charles Knight Aaron Lam
Production location	New Zealand
Cinematography	Aaron Morton
Editors	Gary Hunt Jonathan Woodford-Robinson
Running time	53 minutes
Original release
Network	Starz
Release	January 22 (2010-01-22) – April 16, 2010 (2010-04-16)
Related
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Spartacus: Vengeance

Spartacus: Blood and Sand is the title of the first season of Spartacus, an American television series that premiered on Starz on January 22, 2010. The series was inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus (played by Andy Whitfield), a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Executive producers Steven S. DeKnight and Robert Tapert focused on structuring the events of Spartacus' obscure early life leading up to the beginning of historical records. The show has been rated TV-MA for graphic violence, strong sexual content, and coarse language.

Plot

The story begins with an unnamed Thracian's involvement in a unit of Roman auxiliary in a campaign against the Getae (Dacian tribes that occupied the regions of the Lower Danube, in what today is Romania) under the command of the legatus, Claudius Glaber. In 72-71 BC, Roman general Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus, proconsul of the Roman province of Macedonia, marched against the Getae, who were allies of Rome's enemy, Mithridates VI of Pontus. The Getae frequently raid the Thracians' lands, so the Thracians are persuaded by Glaber to enlist in the Romans' service as auxiliaries. Glaber is persuaded by his wife Ilithyia to seek greater glory, decides to break off attacking the Getae and directly confront the forces of Mithridates in Asia Minor. The Thracian, feeling betrayed, leads a mutiny against Glaber, and returns to find his village destroyed. The Thracian and his wife Sura, are captured by Glaber the next day; the Thracian is condemned to die in the gladiator arena for his crime, while Sura is taken away, condemned to slavery. The Thracian is shipped to Capua in Italy, a center of gladiator training. Against all odds in the arena he slays the four gladiators appointed to execute him and becomes an instant sensation with the crowd. Senator Albinius commutes the punishment from death to slavery. The prisoner's true name unknown, Lentulus Batiatus, the owner of a ludus in Capua, suggests to name him "Spartacus", because he fought like the ferocious Thracian king of that name.

Noting well the Thracian's fierce raw talent and popularity with the masses, Batiatus purchases him for training within the walls of his ludus under the tutelage of Oenomaus, a former gladiator and fellow slave. He is befriended by Varro, a Roman who sold himself into slavery in order to pay his debts and support his family. He is harassed by more senior gladiators, notably Crixus, an undefeated Gaul, and Barca, a Carthaginian. Spartacus soon learns that Sura was sold to a Syrian slave trader. Batiatus, who has been unable to control Spartacus during his first days of training, promises to find Sura and reunite them in exchange for the promising neophyte's cooperation in the arena.

After many near-fatal ordeals and much further training Spartacus attains the status of a living legend and is named the "Champion of Capua". Batiatus arranges the purchase of Sura, but she is delivered mortally wounded, supposedly having been waylaid by bandits en route. Her murder was secretly ordered by Batiatus to keep Spartacus loyal and focused. Spartacus casts off his heritage as a Thracian and forgets his dream of freedom, becoming content with life as champion.

The turning point comes when Spartacus is set to fight his only friend in the ludus, Varro, in an exhibition match celebrating the coming to manhood of the Capua magistrate's son, Numerius. Ilithyia, who has hated Spartacus since he embarrassed her husband Glaber by his mutiny, seduces the young man and convinces him to demand death for the loser of the match. Spartacus wins (as expected), and when the young man gives the "thumbs down", Batiatus, wishing to ingratiate himself with the boy's powerful father, forces Spartacus to comply and kill Varro. While suffering from both his wound in this match and his remorse and sorrow over having to kill his friend, Spartacus has fever dreams that lead him to discover that Batiatus arranged Sura's death. Knowing that it is all or nothing when it comes to resistance of his enslavement, he resolves to "kill them all" and lead a revolt against the ruling house he once fought for.

In order to get his revenge, Spartacus enlists the help of Crixus and the rest of the gladiators to defeat the house of Batiatus once and for all. A battle to the death between Crixus and Spartacus is arranged for the Capuan elite at the ludus. Doctore (who Batiatus refers to by his real name, Oenomaus) confronts Batiatus about Barca's death and Ashur's hand in it. Spartacus gains support from Mira who is tasked with opening the gate to the villa from the training area. Crixus resists aiding Spartacus in hopes of reuniting with Naevia; however, after learning he was weakened to ensure Spartacus' victory, at the last moment he joins with Spartacus. Doctore initially stops Spartacus from killing Batiatus. In the ensuing chaos of the gladiators killing the guards and some guests, Crixus persuades Doctore to join him with Spartacus, Illithyia escapes and has her guards seal the door to the ludus from the outside, Doctore, making good on his word, tries to kill Ashur but ends up being eluded, Crixus grievously wounds Batiatus' wife, Lucretia, with a sword stab to her abdomen piercing her womb and killing their unborn child, Aurelia kills Numerius after revealing to him that Varro was her husband, and Spartacus finally kills Batiatus in front of the seriously wounded Lucretia. After the massacre, Spartacus vows to make "Rome tremble".

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Spartacus (TV series) characters

• Andy Whitfield as Spartacus – a Thracian slave who becomes a gladiator in the ludus of Lentulus Batiatus.
• Erin Cummings as Sura – the wife of Spartacus.
• John Hannah as Quintus Lentulus Batiatus – a lanista and Spartacus' master.
• Lucy Lawless as Lucretia – Batiatus' wife.
• Manu Bennett as Crixus – a Gaul, he is Batiatus' top gladiator. Love interest of Naevia.
• Peter Mensah as Doctore Oenomaus – Batiatus' trainer of gladiators.
• Jai Courtney as Varro – a Roman citizen who sold himself to the ludus to support his family.
• Nick Tarabay as Ashur – a Assyrian former gladiator whose leg was crippled in the arena by Crixus; now serves Batiatus as a bookkeeper and henchman.
• Antonio Te Maioha as Barca – nicknamed the "Beast of Carthage", he is one of Batiatus' most successful gladiators, serves as a bodyguard for his master.
• Craig Walsh Wrightson as Solonius – a rival lanista to the House of Batiatus.
• Lesley-Ann Brandt as Naevia – Lucretia's personal and loyal slave. Love interest of Crixus.
• Viva Bianca as Ilithyia – the daughter of senator Albinius and wife of Glaber.
• Katrina Law as Mira - a slave girl sent under threat of death to seduce Spartacus and become his lover.
• Craig Parker as Gaius Claudius Glaber – a Roman army legatus who is responsible for Spartacus' enslavement as a gladiator.

Style

Spartacus is presented with a slightly over the top, overexposed video stylization, akin to the style used in the film 300.

The program is preceded by a warning that it purports to portray a "historical portrayal of ancient Roman society that contains graphic violence and adult content". Incidental nudity and scenes of a sexual or of a violent nature are present throughout.

Episodes

№	#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (million)
1	1	"The Red Serpent"	Rick Jacobson	Steven S. DeKnight	January 22, 2010 (2010-01-22)	SPS101	0.66
In the series premiere, in 73 B.C., a Thracian warrior and his fellow fighters align themselves with Rome to protect their homeland. But disenchantment with the Romans soon sets in when their allies' battle strategies leave their villages unprotected from barbarian invaders. The warrior leads a rebellion and deserts the Roman army to return to his village and his wife. Invaders attack and he and his wife escape, only to be captured by the Romans. The warrior's wife, Sura, is forced into slavery and he and the other deserters are taken to the arena in Capua to publicly be put to death by gladiators, whereupon he proves his worth and is given the name Spartacus.
2	2	"Sacramentum Gladiatorum"	Rick Jacobson	Steven S. DeKnight	January 29, 2010 (2010-01-29)	SPS102	0.77
Enslaved warrior Spartacus enters the ludus (training camp for gladiators) of Batiatus to receive training to fight as a gladiator. He quickly makes an enemy of the champion of Capua, Crixus, and receives training by the whip-wielding taskmaster Doctore. He meets Varro, a fellow recruit, who becomes his ally in training. Spartacus's owner, the crafty Lentulus Batiatus, makes him an offer he finds difficult to refuse. Spartacus faces the test which determines whether he is fit to be a gladiator and bests Crixus through the use of a small ribbon of cloth belonging to his wife when Crixus stops fighting to gloat. Spartacus swears to the oath of the brotherhood of the gladiator.
3	3	"Legends"	Grady Hall	Brent Fletcher	February 5, 2010 (2010-02-05)	SPS103	0.86
As the gladiators prep for an important competition that will be the highlight of a festival, Spartacus cleverly maneuvers to secure the right to battle Crixus, the unbeaten champion of Capua, in the main event. Despite Lucretia's objections, Batiatus reminds her that Spartacus' bravery and previous exploits have "struck a chord with the public's interest." Meanwhile, Crixus is desired by a number of noblewomen, but he is enamored of one of Lucretia's slaves (Naevia).
4	4	"The Thing in the Pit"	Jesse Warn	Aaron Helbing & Todd Helbing	February 12, 2010 (2010-02-12)	SPS104	0.66
Spartacus' disgrace at surrendering to Crixus in the Capua arena leads Batiatus to punish him by forcing the Thracian to fight in the "pits of the underworld," a hellish, vicious subterranean arena where anything goes. Meanwhile, when the slave girl Naevia rejects Crixus' gift, he misunderstands the reason for her refusal and engages in a sexual relationship with Batiatus wife Lucretia.
5	5	"Shadow Games"	Michael Hurst	Miranda Kwok	February 19, 2010 (2010-02-19)	SPS105	0.85
As the summer drought continues in and around Capua, bitter enemies Spartacus, still recovering from his stint in the Pits, and Crixus are charged with learning to fight as a team in order to take on an unbeaten champion, a giant named Theokoles, in the arena. Doctore is charged with preparing the two men for the fight of their lives but receives little co-operation from either man. Spartacus tries to find common ground with his archenemy at the behest of Batiatus but Crixus remains stalwartly opposed toward any allegiance. Meanwhile, Naevia and Crixus grow closer but must keep their feelings for themselves for fear of discovery. Varro and Spartacus' friendship deepens. Elsewhere, the financially strapped Batiatus recruits Barca and Ashur as he continues his own investigation to the attempt on his life in the Pits and learns that someone close to Magistrate Calavius is involved.
6	6	"Delicate Things"	Rick Jacobson	Tracy Bellomo & Andrew Chambliss	February 26, 2010 (2010-02-26)	SPS106	1.08
Lies, distrust and duplicity plague the house of Batiatus and impact the hopes of both Barca and Spartacus, who have benefited from good fortune and envision a future away from the grounds. Barca expects to buy his and his gay lover, Pietros, way out, while Spartacus anticipates his promised reunion with his enslaved wife, Sura, as part of his reward for a monumental victory in the arena. Crixus is barely alive after a near fatal fight with Theokales. Spartacus tries on new armor and meets the magistrate and his son, Numerius, who is completely entranced with the 'Savior of Capua' where Spartacus invites the Magistrate to the ludus and when the latter accepts. Meanwhile, Batiatus continues to stay one step ahead of the local investigation into the mass murder of Ovidius and his family, while Ashur plots his own agenda to remove Barca after he overhears him talking to Pietros about buying his freedom. Spartacus uses some of his winnings to buy wine and women for his gladiator brothers, but his motives aren't completely selfless: Spartacus plans to escape with Sura. At the end, Batiatus does keep his word of retrieving Sura, but her reunion with Spartacus is short lived.
7	7	"Great and Unfortunate Things"	Jesse Warn	Brent Fletcher & Steven S. DeKnight	March 5, 2010 (2010-03-05)	SPS107	0.97
A distraught Spartacus has to find new meaning after his world is changed by the death of his wife and finds it in the arena. In the absence of Barca, Pietros struggles without a protector in the ludus and the attentions of Gnaeus. Meanwhile, Varro is visited by his wife and receives unwelcome news that crushes his hopes. Spartacus faces the truth about those left behind when they leave through speaking with Pietros. After a tragedy occurs when Pietros hangs himself, Spartacus faces off with Gnaeus and earns Batiatus's displeasure. Also, Doctore seeks the truth behind Barca's sudden departure from the ludus.
8	8	"Mark of the Brotherhood"	Rowan Woods	Aaron Helbing & Todd Helbing	March 12, 2010 (2010-03-12)	SPS108	0.88
As Spartacus continues to embrace his new standing as the current champion of Capua, the former champion, Crixus, finally recovers from his wounds and struggles to return to training to protect himself from being sold by Batiatus because he is suspected of being too damaged to be the fighter that he once was. Meanwhile, the ludus acquires six new recruits that begin training, and Ilithyia finances one, Segovax, of the six new recruits with her own coin. Impulsively, she makes promises of freedom to her personal champion-in-training in exchange for an act he must carry out: kill Spartacus. Segovax is stopped by Crixus. Segovax is discovered in an attempt to carry out this act, he finds himself emasculated and crucified as punishment. Crixus and Spartacus find the meaning of brotherhood with one another, but still do not become friends.
9	9	"Whore"	Michael Hurst	Daniel Knauf	March 19, 2010 (2010-03-19)	SPS109	1.11
Licinia, a rich noble woman and cousin of Marcus Crassus, the senator, asks Lucretia to taste the wares of ludus, i.e. have a masked encounter with Spartacus. Lucretia, having a mind that Spartacus would not satisfy the needs of "a noble Roman woman", prods a female servant named Mira to prepare him for his encounter with Licinia. Ilithyia, jealous of her rich friend's desires, also wants to have a secret masked encounter but with Crixus. Enraged, Lucretia has other plans in mind for her friend. Ilithyia unknowingly has sex with Spartacus before Licinia and Lucretia arrive and discover her. In a rage, Ilithyia murders Licinia after it is revealed that both had intended to see Ilithyia succumb to scandal of allowing Spartacus to sleep with the wife of his enemy. Meanwhile, Varro's wife has gone missing, and Spartacus arranges for Mira to search for her. Also, the slighted Ashur apparently makes a deal with the enemy of Batiatus.
10	10	"Party Favors"	Chris Martin-Jones	Brent Fletcher & Miranda Kwok	March 26, 2010 (2010-03-26)	SPS110	1.27
Dominus Batiatus invites Spartacus to his quarters to play a board game called Latrunculi for which Lucretia asks as why he is playing with a slave at which he credits their rising social status to the man. Spartacus and Crixus are set up to fight in an exhibition match for Numerius' coming of age party, when he will don the toga virilis, but Crixus is intent on blood. Batiatus tries to gain favor from Numerious father, Magistrate Calavius, to allow him to gain further power by requesting a seat in the Roman Senate. However, the evil Ilithyia seduces Numerius to get Spartacus to fight so that he will fight against Varro hoping he will kill Spartacus, or vice versa. Deeply saddened, Spartacus is forced to kill Varro against his will. Stricken with grief, Spartacus smashes the objects in his cell until Mira comes to comfort him. Also, when Magistrate Calavius turns down Batiatus offer for a place in the Senate, he vows revenge.
11	11	"Old Wounds"	Glenn Standring	Story by: Dan Filie & Patricia Wells Teleplay by: Daniel Knauf	April 2, 2010 (2010-04-02)	SPS111	1.13
Spartacus wrestles with the death of Varro and admits to Varro's wife, Aurelia, that his best friend died by his hands. At the same time, a festering wound from the fight with Varro weakens Spartacus. While he recuperates with the help of the medicus and Mira, visions of Varro and Sura haunt his feverish dreams, urging him to "tend the wound". Meanwhile, Crixus reclaims some of his lost glory when he is forced to take to the arena again to defeat an unbeaten Pompeiian champion. Spartacus discovers that Batiatus was responsible for Sura's death. Elsewhere, Batiatus kidnaps Magistrate Calavius to confront him about his grudge and plot to murder him. After killing Calavius, Batiatus and Ashur both sucessfully set up Solonius for Calavius' murder.
12	12	"Revelations"	Michael Hurst	Brent Fletcher	April 9, 2010 (2010-04-09)	SPS112	1.29
Lucretia and Batiatus anticipate the arrival of Glaber, the equally twisted and evil career-Army husband of Ilithyia and Spartacus' former commanding officer; Spartacus, after slaying Solonius in the arena, plans revenge against Batiatus as well as Glaber whom he blames for everything that has happened to him. Spartacus is warned by Mira that if he goes through with the murder of Batiatus, he is risking not only his life, but the life of all slaves due to the Roman laws. Spartacus stops himself from killing Batiatus on the spur of the moment when he discovers Varro's widow, Aurelia, now working at the ludus. When Glaber arrives, he orders Spartacus to fight against his soldiers as a demonstration of his skill. Meanwhile, the relationship between Crixus and Naevia is revealed to Lucretia, who is now pregnant and whose relationship with Crixus is made known by Batiatus. As a result, Naevia is sold, whle Crixus is flogged for his insolence, and Ashur moves out of the ludus having proved his loyalty to Batiatus. When Glaber refuses to sponser Batiatus as a nomination for magester, he and Lucretia reveal that Ilithyia was responsible for Licinia's murder and Glaber is forced to give into Batiatus demands. Also, the mystery behind Barca's death is finally revealed to Doctore after Naevia finally tells him that Batiatus murdered Barca due to Ashur's deception.
13	13	"Kill Them All"	Jesse Warn	Steven S. DeKnight	April 16, 2010 (2010-04-16)	SPS113	1.23
In the season finale, in order to get his revenge and freedom, Spartacus enlists the help of Crixus and the rest of the gladiators to lead a revolt to defeat the house of Batiatus once and for all. The plotters intend the revolt to take place during a duel to the death between Crixus and Spartacus that has been arranged by Batiatus for most of the Capuan elite at the ludus. Doctore (who Batiatus refers to by his real name, Oenomaus) confronts Batiatus about Barca's death and Ashur's hand in it. Spartacus gains support from Mira who is tasked with opening the gate to the villa from the training area. Crixus resists aiding Spartacus in hopes of reuniting with the departed Naevia. However, after learning he was weakened with food poisoning to ensure Spartacus' victory, at the last moment he joins with Spartacus. Doctore initially stops Spartacus from killing Batiatus. In the ensuing chaos of the gladiators killing the guards and guests, Crixus finally persuades Doctore to join him with Spartacus. Illithyia manages to escape by having her bodyguards seal the outside door to the ludus so the rebelling gladiators will not chase after her, in effect leaving behind all her high society friends to their fates. Doctore, making good on his word, tries to kill Ashur in revenge for Barca's death, but Ashur escapes yet again. In retribution for selling Naevia, Crixus grievously wounds Lucretia with a sword stab to her abdomen piercing her womb and killing their unborn child. Aurelia kills Numerius after revealing to him that Varro was her husband. Spartacus finally kills Batiatus in front of the seriously wounded Lucretia whom is left for dead, laying in a pool of her own blood beside her dead husband and all of the other guests. After the massacre, Spartacus and his army of gladiators, escape from the ludus vowing to free Rome of slavery.

Production

On December 22, 2009, it was announced that the show was initially renewed for a second season, but production was delayed because Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Because of the delay, Starz produced a six-episode prequel series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena which featured the experiences before Spartacus' arrival.

Pre-production of season 2 began after the announcement that Whitfield was cancer-free. But his cancer recurred so Starz replaced Whitfield (with the actor's consent) with actor Liam McIntyre as Spartacus for season two which is re-titled Spartacus: Vengeance. Andy Whitfield died on September 11, 2011.

Broadcast

The series aired in Canada on TMN beginning on January 25, 2010. RTL 5 announced in their January newsletter that Spartacus: Blood and Sand will debut in the Netherlands in March. In the United Kingdom, Bravo began airing the series on May 25, 2010. Following the axe of Bravo on UK television, Sky1 has now picked up the rights to the series and will air all subsequent seasons. The series is also scheduled to premiere in Poland on HBO Poland starting from June 19, 2010 and in Hungary on HBO Magyarország starting from June 1, 2010. The series airs in Ireland on TV3. In Brazil, the show airs on Globosat HD. In Turkey the show releases on CNBC-E TV, while in Italy Sky Television is the broadcaster who gained the rights of the series. In India and Pakistan, the show is currently airing (as of June 2011) on HBO. In Slovenia, the series started airing on Kanal A on 2 January 2012, from Monday to Friday at 9.45 pm, and ended January 18th, 2012.

Reception

The premiere episode of the series set a record for Starz, with 553,000 viewers on their network, and another 460,000 on Encore, where the show was available only that weekend. For the rest of the season the show had an average of 1.285 million viewers. Critical reception of the first episode was mixed; the review aggregate website Metacritic which assigns a normalized average score out of 100 gave the show a score of 54% based on 22 reviews. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave it the grade B+, saying it "might prove to be the not-at-all-guilty pleasure of the season." Barry Garron of the Hollywood Reporter suggested that with "such thin stories... it's small wonder that sex and violence are used to take up the slack." Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote that John Hannah as Batiatus "keeps the show grounded with a persuasive portrait of a man engaged in a stressful daily business" and called Whitfield as Spartacus "handsome and buff and smart and beastly." Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald gave the season finale a positive review, rating it a B+. He commented on the improvement of the series throughout its first season.

Other Media

Comics

In 2009, Devil's Due published a four part prequel comic series, titled Spartacus - Blood And Sand. Each issue spotlighted a character from the television series, mostly the minor gladiator rivals of the main cast.

The series was adapted as a 4 part motion comic adaptation called Spartacus - Blood and Sand - Motion Comic. Ray Park and Heath Freeman were cast. Kyle Newman was the director, and the producers were Andy Collen and Jeff Krelitz.

#	Title	Spotlights	Writer	Artist	Run Time (Motion Comic)
1	Upon the Sands of Vengeance	Arkadios, the Red Serpent	Steven S. DeKnight	Adam Archer	16 minutes
2	Shadows of the Jackal	The Gargan Twins	Jimmy Palmiotti	Dexter Soy	16 minutes
3	The Beast of Carthage	Barca, the Beast of Carthage	Todd & Aaron Helbing	Jon Bosco & Guilherme Balbi	9 minutes
4	The Shadow of Death	Theokoles, the Shadow of Death	Miranda Kwok	Allan Jefferson	12 minutes

Novels

In 2012 Titan Books announced the publication of a series of novels based on Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The first one, titled Spartacus: Swords & Ashes, was written by J.M. Clements and released on January 3rd, 2012.

The second book in the series, Spartacus: Morituri by Mark Morris, is expected in August 2012.

External links

• Spartacus: Blood and Sand
• Template:Tv.com
• Spartacus: Blood and Sand at IMDb