Character subpage for Spartacus: Blood and Sand. See here for the main character index.
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Gaia
Gaia (Jaime Murray)
"Gannicus? That Celt with the ridiculously charming smile?"
Gaia is a recently widowed Roman woman of Capua and close childhood friend of Lucretia.
- The Alcoholic: She drinks almost as much as Gannicus.
- All Women Are Lustful: The woman is lust personified.
- Anti-Villain: Well-Intentioned Anti-Villain. Most of her more malevolent acts (such as lying, cheating and screwing around) are to help her friends Lucretia and Quintus achieve their goals, whilst she appears utterly oblivious to how she may unintentionally hurt her slaves.
- Benevolent Boss: Zig-Zagged. She is usually kind to her slaves, even speaking with them like equals on occasion, but she's also rather oblivious to abuses committed against them, a notable example is the incident with Gannicus and Melitta - she seems not to notice or care about their discomfort in them being forced to have sex for her and her companions' amusement.
- Blond, Brunette, Redhead: She's naturally a brunette, but wears blond and red wigs on occasion.
- Canon Foreigner
- The Charmer: A central trait, used for both malevolent and benevolent purposes. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on Tullius.
- Childhood Friend: To Lucretia.
- Death by Disfigurement: Tullius killed her by smashing her in the head. The impact
caused a hole in her head. - Dies Wide Open: When Lucretia finds her body, her eyes are open.
- Femme Fatale: Acts as a bit of one to Varus, though she doesn't sleep with him. Tries being this towards Tullius. It ends with him brutally murdering her.
- Gold Digger: She heavily implies she married her late husband partly for his wealth, which was what she still liked about him after their marriage lost its passion.
- Kaleidoscope Hair: Often wears different coloured wigs.
- Killed Off for Real: She is murdered by Tullius to send a message to Batiatus in "Beneath the Mask".
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: She's no saint, but she ain't that bad, either. At least compared to Ilithyia and Lucretia.
- Manipulative Bitch: Though she's not that bitchy or malicious, she is very good at lying and charming her way around people to get what she wants.
- Morality Pet: To Lucretia, her best friend (and lover). Lucretia loves her unconditionally and Gaia's death serves as her Start of Darkness, with her vowing revenge against Tullius.
- Never Found the Body: The elder Batiatus ordered his men to throw her corpse off the cliff to avoid any form of scandal.
- Neutral Female: Justified, in that she's a noble woman and is not expected to fight.
- Pet the Dog: She's nice to Naevia and Diona, telling them about the wonders of having sex.
- Really Gets Around: Good grief, yes.
- Targeted to Hurt the Hero: Cold-bloodedly murdered by Tullius, out of pure spite against both Lucretia and Batiatus.
- Villainy-Free Villain: Although she's part of the upper class and she's manipulative, she never does anything outwardly villainous to those below her station.
Titus Lentulus Batiatus
Titus Lentulus Batiatus (Jeffrey Thomas)
"You seek to ply me with honeyed wine? You find my weakness, and I would have it exploited."
Titus Lentulus Batiatus is the father of Quintus Lentulus Batiatus and Paterfamilias (head) of The House of Batiatus in Gods of the Arena.
- Anti-Villain: Well-Intentioned. He's a lot nicer and more reasonable than many of the other Roman elites in the series, especially compared to his son, and only behaves harshly if he feels it necessary to restore peace and order.
- Benevolent Boss: He is shown to be well-loved by his slaves. Oenomaus' flashbacks in Vengeance also shows this. Of course, this is relative to other bosses who have slaves fight to the death for entertainment and profit. The difference seems to be that he doesn't rape them, nor does he send them to the mines without provocation.
- Blood from the Mouth: Due to being poisoned.
- Defiant to the End: Was crawling after Lucretia while the poison he has is taking effect and even tries to strangle her.
- The Fettered: In stark contrast to his son. Ironically, despite his low status in Roman society, he is far more dignified and courteous than many of his social betters. Of course, it could be argued that those at the top of Roman society can afford to behave like the complete bastards that they are...
- First-Name Basis: He's generally referred to by his first name of Titus, unlike his son (possibly to avoid confusion between the two).
- Grumpy Old Man: Downplayed.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed.
- Killed Off for Real: It was a bit of a Foregone Conclusion, seeing as he doesn't appear in Blood and Sand and Batiatus is firmly in charge of the ludus there. It's revealed he was poisoned by Lucretia, who then framed Tullius for the crime.
- Nice to the Waiter: He's always kind and reasonable towards his slaves and even has a fatherly bond with Oenomaus.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: There's no love lost between he and Lucretia. He makes it plain he despises his daughter-in-law and views her as being unworthy of his son, no matter how she tries to please him. He even tries to force Quintus into putting his marriage to aside. In the end, Lucretia fatally poisons him - ironically, it was just as he'd begun to wonder if she was really as bad as he thought. Lucretia's response to this is that she's "much worse".
- The Patriarch: Of the House of Batiatus. And he makes sure everyone knows it.
- Team Dad: Even to his slaves.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Batiatus wants his father's approval, but even an old lanista such as Titus can't approve of everything his son has done. Ironically, he threatens to disown Batiatus for one of his few good qualities— his genuine devotion to Lucretia.
Tullius
Tullius (Stephen Lovatt)
"Reconsider your answer, or be excluded from the games forever."
Tullius is a rich merchant and former soldier, and sits among the elite Roman class of Capua.
- Arch-Enemy: To Batiatus.
- Asshole Victim: He fully deserved to be brutally killed by Batiatus and his gladiators, even if he didn't actually commit the crime they killed him for.
- Big Bad: In Gods of the Arena.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He seems like a Reasonable Authority Figure and a fairly affable guy at first...but swiftly reveals his true colors by murdering Batiatus's bodyguard and having him beaten to a pulp and humiliated for refusing to sell him Gannicus.
- Buried Alive: Batiatus has has him bricked up in the walls of the new arena. Though as he was stabbed first, it probably didn't last long.
- Canon Foreigner
- Depraved Homosexual: Hinted at. He really enjoys beating and humiliating Batiatus. In the DVD Commentary Steven S De Knight also implies his obsession with purchasing Gannicus is not purely for business reasons, confirmed in how he seems to become sexually excited in his fight against Gannicus, only barely restraining himself from killing him. His killing of Gaia might however make him a Depraved Bisexual.
- Defiant to the End: The look of utter contempt he gives Batiatus as he's being bricked into the wall of the arena almost makes their gruesome revenge look inadequate.
- Faux Affably Evil: Especially to Batiatus and poor Gaia.
- Jerkass: Easily the biggest Jerkass in the prequel season. He almost makes Batiatus seem like a pleasant and reasonable guy.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: And pee on them as well.
- Not Me This Time: He is killed by Batiatus, Gannicus, and Oenomaus, who are under the impression that he poisoned Titus and, accidentally, Melitta. Actually, that was Lucretia.
- Retired Badass: He once served in the Roman army and can still kick ass when he wants to.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: He murders a woman just to prove he can.
- Smug Snake: His default mode. He constantly struts about with a smug smile on his face, doing whatever he wants to anyone he wants because his position makes him untouchable. Or at least, until the season finale, when his douchebaggery finally catches up with him.
- Villainous Breakdown: Has a small one in "The Bitter End", flipping a table when Batiatus still won't sell him Gannicus.
- Would Hit a Girl: In fact, he'd kill one.
Vetius
Vetius (Gareth Williams)
"Words fall from your mouth like shit from ass!"
Vettius is a young lanista in Capua.
- Canon Foreigner
- Deadpan Snarker
- The Dragon: To Tullius.
- The Exile: Was forced to be this due to his deal with Solonius.
- Jerkass
- Karma Houdini: Averted. His life is spared but at the cost of giving his ludus and all his gladiators to Solonius, and leaving Capua. So he literally loses everything except his life.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Does this to Batiatus. Batiatus has Ashur return the favour.
- The Rival: To Batiatus.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: He thinks himself untouchable because he's best buds with Tullius. Batiatus ultimately proves him wrong.
- Smug Smiler
- Smug Snake
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He is never seen again after Gods of the Arena.
Quinctilius Varus
Quinctilius Varus (Peter Feeney)
"Have him fuck this one and I shall watch."
Quinctilius Varus is a Roman of high social standing.
Cossutius
Cossutius (Jason Hood)
"This world is filled with the grotesque and the divine."
Cossutius is a Roman of high social standing and a close friend of Varus.
- All Men Are Perverts: But none hold a candle to him, as he is the biggest pervert in the series.
- The Bus Came Back: In Vengeance.
- Back for the Dead: With a very strong dose of Asshole Victim thrown in.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Somewhat. He apparently recognizes the slave he had raped at her execution, but does not remember her name.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
- Establishing Character Moment: He talks about how purity and ugliness coexist, and proves it by having a dirty and smelly gladiator rape the beautiful Diona. Not content with that, he decides to anally rape her at the same time. This shows about all we need to know about him.
- Faux Affably Evil
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: By Spartacus with a spear intended for Glaber.
- Karmic Death: Finally gets to experience "unpleasant penetration"
- Karma Houdini: For Gods of the Arena.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: He gets his in Vengeance.
- Non-Action Guy
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: He is shown as an especially disgusting Roman by fondness for rape. Then there's his comment about how none of his slaves are virgins...
- Smug Smiler
- Smug Snake
- Torture Technician: Like most Roman elite. Demonstrates it on the captured Gaul in Vengeance. He chooses to slice off the gladiator's breast.
-
What Could Have Been: Was going to take a spear through the mouth (which would have been even more karmic), but the special effects were too costly. So it was changed to the chest.
Caburus
Caburus (Joel Oliver)
"Capua!!"
Caburus is a mighty gladiator and champion of the House of Vettius and later the House of Solonius. he is despised by professional gladiators and lanista because he is purposely matched against smaller and weaker gladiators.
- And Show It to You: His first fight ends with him ripping his opponent's heart out.
- Big Bad: Acts as one for the arena.
- Blood Knight: Seems to take a special and sadistic glee from killing other gladiators.
- The Bully: His opponents are usually smaller and weaker than him. Though admittedly, he didn't choose them.
- Death by Disfigurement: And holy shit how!
- Evil Makes You Ugly: Compared to the good looking gladiators from Batiatus, he has a swollen eye and nasty teeth.
- Final Boss: The last gladiator standing against the house of Batiatus in the finale.
- The Giant
- Gratuitous German
- Killed Off for Real
- King Mook
- Large and in Charge: Second only to Theokoles as the tallest gladiator in the series.
- Mighty Glacier : Much stronger than Gannicus and Crixus, yet much slower as well.
- One-Man Army: The only gladiator of Solonius who defeats many of Batiatus' gladiators.
- White Shirt of Death
- Would Hit a Girl: Executes escaped slaves in the opening of the arena, two of which are women. One of those two is Diona.
