Partnership and Love in Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010)

In the first season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010), the viewer is presented with a new version of Spartacus, the hero of the slave rebellion in 73 B.C., an updated revision of the 1960 Stanley Kubrick epic, and one that follows in the footsteps of major twenty-first century productions, both big and small screen, such as the Gladiator (2000) and HBO-BBC’s Rome (2005–7).1 During the 13 episodes of the first season, we witness Spartacus’s transformation from a Thracian nomad to a leader in a revolution against his master and lanista, Quintus Lentulus Batiatus. The evolution of Spartacus’s heroism, however, is dramatic and undergoes all the phases expected in the making of a hero in a sword-and-sandal historical series: excessive hope for a reunion with his wife, Sura; followed by shock, grief, anger, thirst for revenge; and finally the much longed-for and expected action of breaking out from the ludus. In a way, in this preparatory season, we are invited to watch the creation of Spartacus and look deeply into the process of hero-making, as it is fitting for an ordeal that lasted three long years (73–71 B.C.) and passed through many stages that are not often discernible within the boundaries of a three-hour big screen movie.2