Spartacus

A closer look at the story

Spartacus, a Thracian soldier, joins the Roman army to fight the Getae, who have long oppressed his people. After the first clash, however, he defies an order from the commander Gaius Claudius Glaber and returns to protect his village. When he arrives, he finds it in ruins, but his wife has survived. Their brief reunion does not last: the Roman army tracks him down, Glaber has Spartacus enslaved and sells his wife to a Syrian merchant. Separated from his homeland and from the woman he loves, he is condemned to the brutal arena, where crowds are entertained by bloodshed and killing. Trained in a gladiator school, he fights to survive every bout in the hope of finding his wife again. Featuring characters such as Crixus, Lucretia and Ilithyia, the series was created by Steven S. DeKnight; it began on STARZ in 2010 and ran for three seasons and 33 episodes.