Spartacus, the Thracian gladiator turned rebel leader, endures as a near-mythic hero who fought for the oppressed against a Roman oligarchy built on the backs of slave labour. The image of Spartacus as a noble if doomed avenger is familiar and his story has been retold through history as a cautionary tale about social injustice.

The series Spartacus takes a different view, with a graphically violent depiction of the man and his times and a focus on the archetype of the gladiator--the physically powerful, courageous and righteous man. This collection of new essays studies the series as an exploration of masculinity. In the world of Spartacus, men jockey for social position, question the nature of their lives, examine their relationships with women and with each other, and their roles in society and the universe. As an adaptation, the series also offers a compelling study in the composite nature of historical narrative in television and film, where key facts from original sources are seamlessly interwoven with period embellishments, presenting audiences with authentic history beside fiction that may as well be.