Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a Starz television series that premiered on January 22, 2010. The series is 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.
The show was initially renewed for a second season but production was delayed because Whitfield was diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Due to the delay, Starz produced a six-episode prequel series, entitled Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Pre-production of season 2 began following the announcement that Whitfield was cancer free, however his cancer recurred. Starz has since replaced Whitfield with actor Liam McIntyre, who will play Spartacus for season two
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CASTS
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[Andy Whitfield as Spartacus]
A Thracian soldier who volunteers to fight in the Roman Auxiliary against a common enemy of Thrace and Rome. As punishment for defying the Roman commander Legatus Claudius Glaber, he is sentenced to die in the gladiatorial arena. Against all odds he kills four gladiators and survives. His sentence is commuted to slavery and he is bought by Batiatus to be trained as a gladiator in his ludus. His rebellious tendencies are tamed by the promise of one day being reunited with his wife Sura.
[Dustin Clare as Gannicus]
A true physical specimen, fearless in the arena and possessed by a thirst for the fleeting pleasures of life, Gannicus is the gladiator a girl’s mother doesn’t want her to bring home. Newly promoted to the top position at Batiatus’ ludus, Gannicus is best friend to Oenomaus and his wife Melitta, forming an unlikely triangle of loyal friendship.
[Erin Cummings as Sura]
Thracian wife of Spartacus, she foretells that his departure from home will bring great and unfortunate things upon them. Sura is the embodiment of everything Spartacus fights for. She too is enslaved by the Romans, wrested from her husband and sold to a Syrian slaveholder.
[John Hannah as Quintus Lentulus Batiatus]
Bold and impulsive where his father is restrained and conventional, Batiatus has newly come to inhabit his family’s ludus while his father is away attempting to regain his health. Wishing to seize more for himself and rise beyond his father’s station, Batiatus, with his wife Lucretia ever by his side fueling his ambitions, schemes beyond his reach.
[Lucy Lawless as Lucretia]
Lucretia is her husband’s foundation, always supportive of his dreams, however wild the direction they threaten to grow. Though conscious of the role she’s expected to play as a proper Roman woman, through the ideas she and her husband cultivate she will discover that when the moment most needs it, she has a true talent for maneuvering the levers of power.
[Peter Mensah as Doctore Oenomaus]
Oenomaus is not far removed from the status of top gladiator at the House of Batiatus, having only recently survived his fight with the legendary Theokoles. He longs to return to the sands of the arena and reclimb the peak he feels is rightfully his, but he is yet a slave like so many others and bound to the notions of his masters.
[Viva Bianca as Ilithyia]
The spoiled, selfish daughter of Senator Albinius, she is also the wife of Legatus Claudius Glaber. Young and impressionable, she finds herself alone and bored in Capua. Seeing potential advancement for herself and Batiatus, Lucretia takes Ilithyia under her wing, determined to introduce her to all the sensual pleasures of the ludus.
[Jai Courtney as Varro]
A Roman citizen, Varro sold himself into the ludus to pay off gambling debts and provide for his wife and child. A solid fighter who follows orders, he is accepted easily by the other gladiators. He admires Spartacus because of his now legendary victory against the four gladiators in the arena but where Spartacus is impulsive, Varro is cautious. Despite this, he is Spartacus’s only true friend in the ludus.
[Lesley-Ann Brandt as Naevia]
Naevia, destined to become Crixus' passionate love, is just emerging into womanhood and will soon learn that the position of a female slave is a delicate one, vulnerable both to her masters' bidding and the random turn of fate.
[Nick E Tarabay as Ashur]
Having just arrived with the new batch of recruits, Ashur is swept up in the grueling fight to survive and prove himself worthy enough to secure standing as a gladiator. When it quickly proves difficult for him to advance on pure physical ability alone, he must call on his more devious gifts to ensure his place.
[Antonio Te Maioha as Barca]
Barca is one of the most accomplished gladiators in the Batiatus stable, prized by his master for his prowess inside the arena and his skill and discretion in the service of less noble missions outside of it. Despite the brutality of a gladiator’s way of life, Barca exhibits a capacity for deeper feeling rare among his brethren.
[Marisa Ramirez as Melitta]
Personal slave to Lucretia and wife to Oenomaus, the lovely and dedicated Melitta struggles to balance the small portion of freedom she's attained within the villa. Subjected to the careless whims of her masters, she finds herself caught up in a web of desire and betrayal that threatens to tear apart her fragile place in
the world.
[Jaime Murray as Gaia]
A longtime friend of Lucretia, Gaia arrives unannounced in Capua, bringing along her taste for certain vices. On the prowl for a new husband, endowed with beauty, sexual adventurousness and an artful mind, she lends her assets to the cause of her friends, stoking
their schemes.
[Craig Parker as Glaber]
The Roman commander of a legion, and the Thracian Auxiliary, whose skills and cunning are outstrippped by his ambition. Though he loves his young wife Ilithyia, he married her as much for the political advantage she provides as for her beauty and charm. Glaber blames Spartacus’s mutiny for his failed military campaign and attendant disgrace and wishes to see him die in the arena.
[Manu Bennett as Crixus]
A newly purchased recruit enlisted into Batiatus's gladiator school, Crixus revels in the opportunity put before him, to become a gladiator, to reap the glory that he's always longed for. But to attain it, he'll have to start at the bottom of the gladiator food chain and fight the titans above him.
The show was initially renewed for a second season but production was delayed because Whitfield was diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Due to the delay, Starz produced a six-episode prequel series, entitled Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Pre-production of season 2 began following the announcement that Whitfield was cancer free, however his cancer recurred. Starz has since replaced Whitfield with actor Liam McIntyre, who will play Spartacus for season two
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CASTS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Andy Whitfield as Spartacus]
A Thracian soldier who volunteers to fight in the Roman Auxiliary against a common enemy of Thrace and Rome. As punishment for defying the Roman commander Legatus Claudius Glaber, he is sentenced to die in the gladiatorial arena. Against all odds he kills four gladiators and survives. His sentence is commuted to slavery and he is bought by Batiatus to be trained as a gladiator in his ludus. His rebellious tendencies are tamed by the promise of one day being reunited with his wife Sura.
[Dustin Clare as Gannicus]
A true physical specimen, fearless in the arena and possessed by a thirst for the fleeting pleasures of life, Gannicus is the gladiator a girl’s mother doesn’t want her to bring home. Newly promoted to the top position at Batiatus’ ludus, Gannicus is best friend to Oenomaus and his wife Melitta, forming an unlikely triangle of loyal friendship.
[Erin Cummings as Sura]
Thracian wife of Spartacus, she foretells that his departure from home will bring great and unfortunate things upon them. Sura is the embodiment of everything Spartacus fights for. She too is enslaved by the Romans, wrested from her husband and sold to a Syrian slaveholder.
[John Hannah as Quintus Lentulus Batiatus]
Bold and impulsive where his father is restrained and conventional, Batiatus has newly come to inhabit his family’s ludus while his father is away attempting to regain his health. Wishing to seize more for himself and rise beyond his father’s station, Batiatus, with his wife Lucretia ever by his side fueling his ambitions, schemes beyond his reach.
[Lucy Lawless as Lucretia]
Lucretia is her husband’s foundation, always supportive of his dreams, however wild the direction they threaten to grow. Though conscious of the role she’s expected to play as a proper Roman woman, through the ideas she and her husband cultivate she will discover that when the moment most needs it, she has a true talent for maneuvering the levers of power.
[Peter Mensah as Doctore Oenomaus]
Oenomaus is not far removed from the status of top gladiator at the House of Batiatus, having only recently survived his fight with the legendary Theokoles. He longs to return to the sands of the arena and reclimb the peak he feels is rightfully his, but he is yet a slave like so many others and bound to the notions of his masters.
[Viva Bianca as Ilithyia]
The spoiled, selfish daughter of Senator Albinius, she is also the wife of Legatus Claudius Glaber. Young and impressionable, she finds herself alone and bored in Capua. Seeing potential advancement for herself and Batiatus, Lucretia takes Ilithyia under her wing, determined to introduce her to all the sensual pleasures of the ludus.
[Jai Courtney as Varro]
A Roman citizen, Varro sold himself into the ludus to pay off gambling debts and provide for his wife and child. A solid fighter who follows orders, he is accepted easily by the other gladiators. He admires Spartacus because of his now legendary victory against the four gladiators in the arena but where Spartacus is impulsive, Varro is cautious. Despite this, he is Spartacus’s only true friend in the ludus.
[Lesley-Ann Brandt as Naevia]
Naevia, destined to become Crixus' passionate love, is just emerging into womanhood and will soon learn that the position of a female slave is a delicate one, vulnerable both to her masters' bidding and the random turn of fate.
[Nick E Tarabay as Ashur]
Having just arrived with the new batch of recruits, Ashur is swept up in the grueling fight to survive and prove himself worthy enough to secure standing as a gladiator. When it quickly proves difficult for him to advance on pure physical ability alone, he must call on his more devious gifts to ensure his place.
[Antonio Te Maioha as Barca]
Barca is one of the most accomplished gladiators in the Batiatus stable, prized by his master for his prowess inside the arena and his skill and discretion in the service of less noble missions outside of it. Despite the brutality of a gladiator’s way of life, Barca exhibits a capacity for deeper feeling rare among his brethren.
[Marisa Ramirez as Melitta]
Personal slave to Lucretia and wife to Oenomaus, the lovely and dedicated Melitta struggles to balance the small portion of freedom she's attained within the villa. Subjected to the careless whims of her masters, she finds herself caught up in a web of desire and betrayal that threatens to tear apart her fragile place in
the world.
[Jaime Murray as Gaia]
A longtime friend of Lucretia, Gaia arrives unannounced in Capua, bringing along her taste for certain vices. On the prowl for a new husband, endowed with beauty, sexual adventurousness and an artful mind, she lends her assets to the cause of her friends, stoking
their schemes.
[Craig Parker as Glaber]
The Roman commander of a legion, and the Thracian Auxiliary, whose skills and cunning are outstrippped by his ambition. Though he loves his young wife Ilithyia, he married her as much for the political advantage she provides as for her beauty and charm. Glaber blames Spartacus’s mutiny for his failed military campaign and attendant disgrace and wishes to see him die in the arena.
[Manu Bennett as Crixus]
A newly purchased recruit enlisted into Batiatus's gladiator school, Crixus revels in the opportunity put before him, to become a gladiator, to reap the glory that he's always longed for. But to attain it, he'll have to start at the bottom of the gladiator food chain and fight the titans above him.
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