Spartacus: Gods of the Arena: Difference between revisions

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
Genre	Historical drama
Created by	Steven S. DeKnight
Written by	Steven S. DeKnight Maurissa Tancharoen Jed Whedon Aaron Helbing Todd Helbing Seamus Kevin Fahey Misha Green Brent Fletcher play mov
Directed by	Jesse Warn Rick Jacobson Michael Hurst Brendan Maher John Fawcett
Starring	John Hannah Manu Bennett Peter Mensah Nick E. Tarabay Dustin Clare Jaime Murray Marisa Ramirez Lucy Lawless Jeffrey Thomas Stephen Lovatt
Theme music composer	Joseph Loduca
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	6
Production
Producers	Steven S. DeKnight Robert Tapert Chloe Smith Charles Knight Aaron Lam
Editor	Allanah Milne
Running time	300 minutes
Original release
Network	Starz
Release	January 21 (2011-01-21) – February 25, 2011 (2011-02-25)

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a Starz television miniseries and prequel to Spartacus, which premiered January 21, 2011. The series follows the character Gannicus (Dustin Clare), the first gladiator representing Lentulus Batiatus to become Champion of Capua. Cast members and characters reprised from the original series include John Hannah as Batiatus, Lucy Lawless as Lucretia, Peter Mensah as Oenomaus, Nick E. Tarabay as Ashur, Lesley-Ann Brandt as Naevia, Antonio Te Maioha as Barca, and Manu Bennett as Crixus.

The miniseries aired in Canada on Movie Central and The Movie Network, on Sky1 in the United Kingdom and on FX in Latin America.

Plot

The mini-series features the bloody history of the House of Batiatus and the city of Capua before the arrival of Spartacus. Quintus Lentulus Batiatus becomes a lanista (manager) when he takes over his father's ludus of gladiators. He has ambitions of stepping out of his father's shadow by seeking recognition for his own name and achieving further greatness for his house. By his side stands his beautiful wife Lucretia who will help her husband achieve his ambitions, whatever the cost. Batiatus puts all his fortunes on the man who will gain him fame and glory. That would be his best gladiator, the Celt, Gannicus, a skilled warrior who wields dual swords with deadly purpose. Those who oppose Batiatus and his future champion(s) of Capua do so at their own peril.

Purchased as an undisciplined and disheveled recruit in the first episode, Crixus the Gaul endures mockery and threats of death to become the champion after Gannicus. As Batiatus fends off repeated attempts by his professional rival Tullius to obtain Gannicus, his relationships with his father Titus and friend Solonius begin to suffer the strain of his relentless ambition. Former champion, Oenomaus, reluctantly becomes Doctore, while Syrian recruits Ashur and Dagan try to prove themselves worthy of being gladiators. Veteran gladiators Barca and Gannicus note the rising star of Crixus, as the machinations of Batiatus and Lucretia end in tragedy for several members of the household. Against all of this, the city's splendid new arena nears completion and with it the opening games that will make slaves into gods. When the arena opens, Batiatus' gladiators prevail in the contest. Gannicus again proves himself to be the champion of Capua and a god of the arena. By virtue of his win against Solonius' gladiators, he gains his freedom and Crixus becomes the new champion.

Cast

Main article: List of Spartacus characters

Slaves

• Dustin Clare as Gannicus – a Celtic gladiator who is the champion of the Batiatus' ludus.
• Peter Mensah as Oenomaus/Doctore – an African gladiator who later becomes the doctore of Batiatus' gladiators.
• Marisa Ramirez as Melitta – Lucretia's body slave and the wife of Oenomaus.
• Manu Bennett as Crixus – a new Gallic gladiatorial recruit.
• Nick E. Tarabay as Ashur – a new Syrian gladiatorial recruit.
• Shane Rangi as Dagan – a gladiatorial recruit who cannot speak Latin, and fellow Syrian to Ashur.
• Antonio Te Maioha as Barca – a Carthaginian gladiator.
• Josef Brown as Auctus – a gladiator and Barca's lover.
• Temuera Morrison as Ulpius/Doctore – Oenomaus' predecessor as the trainer of Batiatus' gladiators.
• Lesley-Ann Brandt as Naevia – a young house-slave.

Romans

• John Hannah as Quintus Lentulus Batiatus – a lanista
• Lucy Lawless as Lucretia – Batiatus' wife.
• Jaime Murray as Gaia – a social climber and Lucretia's friend.
• Craig Walsh Wrightson as Marcus Decius Solonius – Batiatus' close friend who has aspirations of becoming a lanista himself.
• Jeffrey Thomas as Titus Lentulus Batiatus – Quintus Batiatus' father and the pater familias of the House of Batiatus.
• Stephen Lovatt as Tullius – Batiatus' brutal business rival.
• Gareth Williams as Vettius – owner of a rival ludus.
• Jason Hood as Cossutius – a wealthy man who lives outside of Capua.

Episodes

See also: List of Spartacus episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Past Transgressions"	Jesse Warn	Steven S. DeKnight	January 21, 2011 (2011-01-21)	1.10
2	"Missio"	Rick Jacobson	Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon	January 28, 2011 (2011-01-28)	1.14
3	"Paterfamilias"	Michael Hurst	Aaron Helbing & Todd Helbing	February 4, 2011 (2011-02-04)	1.26
4	"Beneath the Mask"	Brendan Maher	Seamus Kevin Fahey & Misha Green	February 11, 2011 (2011-02-11)	1.11
5	"Reckoning"	John Fawcett	Brent Fletcher	February 18, 2011 (2011-02-18)	1.38
6	"The Bitter End"	Rick Jacobson	Steven S. DeKnight	February 25, 2011 (2011-02-25)	1.72

Production

The opportunity to produce Gods of the Arena emerged when the second season of Spartacus was halted while lead actor Andy Whitfield battled Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Series creator and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight expanded a single flashback episode for the second season into a six-part mini-series. Production for Gods of the Arena began in New Zealand in August 2010.

External links

• Official site
• Spartacus: Gods of the Arena at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show