Character sheet for the 1960 film Spartacus.
open/close all folders
Gladiators and Spartacus's Army
Spartacus
Spartacus
Played By: Kirk Douglas
A Thracian slave-turned-gladiator who ends up leading a slave rebellion against the Romans.
- Berserk Button: When he sees Varinia being taken away (with Marcellus taunting him about her for a while and going at it again), he snaps and drowns Marcellus in soup, then leads the gladiators' revolt.
- Doomed Moral Victor: Right before the battle with Crassus, Spartacus, who seems to realize that they are probably going to lose, says that just by fighting they have won something.
- Face Death with Dignity: He's silent throughout the crucifixion ordeal.
- A Father to His Men: He's been so good and benevolent a leader that the remains of the defeated army of slaves will all say "I Am Spartacus" and accept crucifixion rather than betray him to the Romans. Crassus can't even begin to understand how and why he inspires such respect and trust in his men.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: He's a Thracian slave at the beginning of the story, and his name ends up sending shivers down the spine of the Roman Republic's politicians when the army of former slaves grows big enough and defeats a Roman legion.
- Joke Item: When he's pitted against Draba, a retiarius who's armed with a net and a scary trident, he, as a Thracian (gladiator type, not just his origins), only gets a small sword and a small circular shield. He does his best with them but ends up outmatched. Luckily for him, Draba has other plans than killing him. Normally in Gladiator Games retiariuses were pitted against murmillos, who had a metal helmet and and a large scutum (Roman legion shield) to compensate, but Crassus' ladies chose the fighters as they pleased (and asked for them to be scantily clad) to begin with.
- Made a Slave: He was enslaved by the Romans and remained so uncooperative in a mining pit that he ended up sentenced to death by starvation. Then Batiatus bought him to make a gladiator out of him.
- Not Afraid to Die: After Tigranes Levantus of the Silician pirates tells Spartacus that his army of former slaves will surely lose, he asks him if he is still going to fight Rome. Spartacus retorts that to the slaves, death equals freedom so they don't fear it, which gives them edge in the battlefield.
- Rebel Leader: He doesn't limit himself to escaping the gladiator school, he sets out to free slaves and gladiators throughout Italy and lead them against their former Roman masters.
Varinia
Varinia
Played By: Jean Simmons
A servant at the gladiator school of Batiatus. Spartacus falls in love with her, and she later becomes his wife.
- Love Interest: Spartacus can't take his eyes off of her (which she reciprocates) and becomes enamored with her, to the points that seeing her being taken away makes him snap, kill Marcellus and start the gladiators' revolt.
- Ms. Fanservice: She is shown with non-explicit nudity when bathing in a river. Push-up bras and well-coiffed hair (in ancient Rome) also aid her.
- Sex Slave: She's sent to Spartacus' cell so he can have some pleasure with her, but as he's fallen in love with her, he doesn't touch her.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: To the point Crassus wants her for himself, buys her and has her taken away from the gladiator school.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Varinia gives birth to her and Spartacus' son just before he gets crucified. At least she and their son are free.
- When She Smiles: She doesn't smile a lot in general, but when she gets intimate moments with Spartacus after being freed, she makes some beautiful ones.
Crixus
Antoninus
Antoninus
Played By: Tony Curtis
A slave used as entertainment (and possibly more) by Crassus who escapes and joins up with Spartacus's army.
- Canon Foreigner: Antoninus is neither based on a historical figure nor a character in Howard Fast's novel.
- More Hero than Thou: When Crassus has Spartacus and Antoninus fight to the death at the end, Spartacus orders Antoninus to let Spartacus kill him quickly, thus leaving Spartacus for the slow death of crucifixion. Antoninus refuses, and fights Spartacus. Spartacus wins anyway.
- Non-Action Guy: A slave with no combat ability or labor skills, he is instead "a singer of songs" and had worked mainly as a caretaker and tutor for his master's children. At first, the gladiator-soldiers mock him, but when Spartacus asks for one of his songs, they are all moved by the beauty and emotion it invokes, reminding them why it is worth fighting to be free.
Draba
Draba
Played By: Woody Strode
An Ethiopian gladiator whose death kicks off the rebellion.
- Black Dude Dies First: Not how the trope usually plays out, as it happens in something of a Heroic Sacrifice that incites the gladiator revolt after he tried to kill Crassus.
- Dead Guy on Display: Marcellus has his body hung upside down "until he rots" for all his gladiator comrades to see as a warning. It has the opposite effect and the gladiators revolt the next day.
- Icon of Rebellion: Spartacus considers him as this after his attempted rebellion and death.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: A legionary throws a pilum in his back as he rebels and tries to climb the training arena's wall to reach Crassus, then Crassus plunges a dagger at the bottom of his neck.
- Inescapable Net: In addition to his trident, he has a net to hamper the moves of the gladiators he's pitted against.
- Prongs of Poseidon: He's a retiarius, so his main weapon is a trident.
- Scary Black Man: For the Roman nobles after the arena fight.
Roman officials and slave masters
Crassus
Marcus Licinius Crassus
Played By: Laurence Olivier
The ambitious commander of a Roman Legion.
- Big Bad: Truly becomes this to the slave army in the final act.
- Corrupt Politician: He tells Glabrus that he "purchased the Senate behind Gracchus' back", which among other things allowed Glabrus to be appointed in an important military position.
- Depraved Bisexual: The infamous "oysters scene" with Antoninus implies he swings both ways. It's more than implied in the source novel, where he's also a rapist.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Crassus is infuriated by his inability to understand how Spartacus commands such loyalty and love in his followers, when his own power just brings him more distrust and unpopularity.Crassus: [mocking] What was he? Was he a god?
Varinia: He wasn't a god. He was a simple man. A slave... I loved him.
Crassus: He was an outlaw! A murderer! An enemy to everything fine and decent that Rome ever built! Damn you! You tell me — Why did you love him?
Varinia: I can't tell you. I can't tell you things you can never understand.
Crassus: But I want to understand. Don't you see? I must understand! - Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Crassus was considered a ruthless and predatory landlord who profited during the dictator Sulla Felix's proscriptions (i.e. putting names of people on a list that would purge them so that he can grab their property and money) and was considered a general sleaze. He also reintroduced decimation in the Roman legions which had been discontinued long before. However, in the film he's presented as an elite aristocrat opposed by the plebeian Gracchus (who is an In Name Only take on the real Gracchi). The real Crassus actually did support a lot of pro-plebeian reforms and was quite generous to his friends and clients. Much later, after the Spartacus revolts as part of the First Triumvirate Crassus would in fact support the Populares against the Boni, and supported Caesar's reform initiatives.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Crassus is confused and unnerved by the clear love that the formerly enslaved people have, towards each other and especially towards Spartacus, since he himself has massive power and influence but no one genuinely loves him. He attempts to endear Varinia towards him, but she coolly points out that he really just wants to capture some shadow of what Spartacus had.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Crassus screws over Batiatus after promising him all the captured slaves after the revolt is crushed but instead executing them all, and has him whipped after he grows tired of his attempts to bargain over the identity of Spartacus. Batiatus brings his idea of stealing away Varinia to Gracchus, who's able to help them all escape Rome (as his second-to-last laugh towards Crassus) and also arranges for Varinia and her son to be freed, allowing Spartacus a final triumph over the dictator.
- Non-Action Big Bad: He does finish off an already mortally-wounded Draba, but otherwise delegates violence to his henchmen and soldiers.
- The Rival: He's a longtime political opponent of Gracchus.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: He's filthy rich, so he can afford to buy parts of the Senate and have Gladiator Games at a gladiator school turned into duels to the death for the pleasure of his ladies.
- The Starscream: He plans to use the political chaos caused by the slave revolt to take over Rome.
- Villainous Crush: While he was clearly interested in acquiring Varinia as his property long before he ever heard of Spartacus, when he has her in his power after the slave revolt is crushed Crassus legitimately tries to woo her, refusing to take what he 'owns' and attempting to make her love him.
Gracchus
Gracchus
Played By: Charles Laughton
Crassus's cynical political rival.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: After helping Varinia and her child escape Rome with Batiatus, Gracchus commits suicide as one last gesture of defiance against his enemy Crassus.
- The Chessmaster: He is very good at manipulating the Senate and his political opponents...at least for awhile.
- Corrupt Politician: In a more lighthearted way than Crassus. He isn't above bribing people and shows a lack of scruples in his response to the rebellion (namely, in engaging with the Cilician pirates to arrange Spartacus's escape), explaining to Caesar that "when a criminal has what you want, you do business with him."
- Deadpan Snarker: He doesn't hide his snark against Crassus.
- Also this gem with Batiatus:
Batiatus: Come with us. See to it that I don't misuse the money.
Crassus: Don't be ridiculous. I'm a senator! - Driven to Suicide: When Crassus has utterly outmaneuvered him and used the slave revolt to discredit his populist stance, Gracchus takes this way out. In fact, he's almost matter-of-fact and casual about it.
- Hollywood Atheist: He states that privately he believes in none of the gods, but publicly of course he believes in them all. He is not portrayed as worse for this, and in fact comes off better than most of the politicians by the end. The film (released in 1960) is probably able to get away with this because he is only referencing the Roman pagan gods.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: With his plebeian sensibilities, he is somewhat sympathetic towards the rebels, if only with the ultimate goal of upstaging Crassus.
- The Rival: Everyone in Rome knows of his political enmity with Crassus.
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar
Played By: John Gavin
Gracchus's assistant and main ally, who was a childhood friend of Crassus.
- Broken Pedestal: Caesar starts as Gracchus's protege and an idealistic Republican. But he's disgusted by Gracchus's lack of principles, seemingly putting ambition ahead of Rome's security, and defects to Crassus - helping precipitate Rome's slide towards the Empire.
- Shirtless Scene: He has one such scene at a Roman bath with Gracchus and Crassus.
- Young Future Famous People: He's under 30 by that time and not yet a famous figure. In Real Life, Caesar was an officer in the legions at this time though no records have been found about him participating in the Great Slave War (as the Romans called Spartacus' rebellion).
Batiatus
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus
Played By: Peter Ustinov
Dubbed By: Roger Carel (French)
The head of the gladiator school Spartacus was trained at. It's him who buys Spartacus to train him in the first place.
- Heel–Face Turn: In the last act, he decides to help Varinia escape Crassus, though admittedly he's motivated by revenge against Crassus as much as any moral motives.
- Only Sane Man: While it doesn't exactly make him sympathetic, Batiatus is a very pragmatic slaveowner. He prefers to treat his students well between bouts of training, and protests against Crassus demanding a fight to the death, knowing full well it will enrage the gladiators.
- Pet the Dog: As he and Varinia escape Rome, he clearly suspects that Gracchus is going to commit suicide rather than go into exile and suggests that his friend come with them instead.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: As soon as he learns of the revolt in his gladiator school, he prefers to flee, driving the cart that takes Varinia away himself.
- Sympathetic Slave Owner: At least after he starts protecting Varinia, though by that time he doesn't own slaves anymore.
Marcellus
Marcellus
Played By: Charles McGraw
The trainer of Batiatus' gladiator school.
- Beard of Evil: He's cruel and sadistic, and he has a beard.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: A brutal trainer, in a gladiator school instead of the military.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Speaks with a low, gritty authoritative voice.
- Jerkass: He taunts/humiliates Spartacus any chance he gets.
- Karmic Death: He brutally trained gladiators and had Draba's body hung upside down as warning, then taunts Spartacus about Varinia, especially when Batiatus takes her away. He had it coming when Spartacus snaps and drowns him in the gladiators' soup, kicking off the revolt.
- Wardens Are Evil: Behaves like an evil warden would in the courtyard of a prison, since gladiators are still technically slaves who are put in cells/cages. He also taunts Spartacus any chance he gets, over Varinia especially.
Glabrus
Marcus Glabrus
Played By: John Dall
An ally of Crassus, who gets appoints as the commander of the Roman garrisons.
- General Failure: He takes the garrison of Rome out to face Spartacus, but fails to take elementary security precautions when he makes camp. Spartacus then easily ambushes and annihilates his army.
- Upper-Class Twit: He is an aristocrat, fails to see that Gracchus is using him to gain complete control of Rome, and gets his army destroyed in a surprise night attack after declining to take any security precautions because, "They were only slaves."
