And yet, though he has been seized upon by everyone from Karl Marx to, well, Kirk Douglas as an icon of freedom, there is no evidence that Spartacus planned a social revolution, nor even to end slavery.
The escaped rebels have a fine old time looting on the escarpments of Vesuvius, but Spartacus wants to turn them into a guerrilla force and liberate Europe: "We'll free every slave in every town and village!" It's true that Spartacus recruited huge numbers of slaves – conservative estimates suggest 90,000.
So, do you like snails? … Laurence Olivier with John Gavin in Spartacus. In the next scene, it does, complete with Romans being pelted with pots, thrown into the impluvium, and drowned in vats of baked beans. Ancient historian Plutarch does agree that Batiatus was a cruel master, though, and that the slave rebellion began in the gladiator school kitchen. Incidentally, the film's suggestion that Crassus engaged Spartacus as a gladiator is fiction. Poor Laurence Oliver, doing his best to project thinly iced evil as Crassus, doesn't stand a chance. "I tingle." By this point, Ustinov is well on course to steal the show. "No, no, most exciting," Batiatus replies caustically. "I'll take the big black one." Helena obviously prefers hers coated in the Roman republic's entire supply of bronzer, for she picks Spartacus. "I want the most beautiful," says Claudia. It's like one of those gimmicky fish restaurants where you choose your lobster, only with human beings. Batiatus lets them select their gladiators. Crassus offers 25,000 sestertii to watch something gnarly. Spartacus is training as a gladiator in Capua when some rich kids turn up from Rome, led by Marcus Licinius Crassus. Look out for the pots and pans! … Photograph: Cinetext/Allstar Nothing is known of Spartacus's family – nor of any love interest, though of course the film invents one. Instead, it claims that Spartacus was born into slavery and even, at one point, has him state that his father and grandfather were slaves.
Whereas this film is about Spartacus, but does not have that plot. This is approximately the plot of Gladiator, which is not about Spartacus. He became a slave, and was sold as a gladiator. The real Spartacus was a soldier in the Roman army before being made a prisoner. This must be an advantage, because he buys him immediately. "Oh, what a pity," coos Peter Ustinov, swanning on as camp gladiator dealer Lentulus Batiatus. He is sentenced to be tied to a rock until he dies. Slaving away in a mine, Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) gets cross and bites a Roman on the ankle. Spartacus was a Thracian slave who led a revolt against the Roman republic from 73-71BC, known as the Third Servile War.