Spartacus

The Real
Story
Plot
Outline
Cast

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Spartacus
is a historical epic film starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence
Olivier, Charles Laughton and a host of other stars. Released
in 1960, the film was a box office smash.  It won
four Oscars (Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best
Cinematography, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Supporting
Actor, Peter Ustinov)

Historically correct in the overall story, all the major
characters are real, but the presentation of their character is
fictional. Some liberties were taken with time and space, but for
the most part the presentation of the slave revolt is accurate. The
characters of the slaves in general, and Spartacus and Varinia in
particular, have been improved upon by Hollywood.   For
example, very little is know in historical fact about Spartacus'
wife.   Plutarch says she was probably a Thracian.  She
almost certainly was not a Briton as shown in the film.  In
fact, Rome will not invade Briton for another 20 years, so if she
were a Briton, she would have had to go to extraordinary lengths to
have become a captive of the Romans.

The Romans in general come off somewhat the worse in character -
especially Crassus.
But, this is entertainment after all. And, it's Spartacus' story not
Crassus'.  You can read about the Real
Spartacus in this summary by Professor Barbara F.
McManus of The College of New Rochelle.

The film follows the life of the Thracian slave,
Spartacus, from his purchase by a trainer of gladiators (Peter
Ustinov as Lentulus Batiatus) and his leadership of the revolt (in
Part
I ) to the climactic battle with the Roman Army and his
eventual crucifixion at the order of Crassus (Olivier)(in Part
II ). Each part has a plot summary and a scene-by-scene
outline, both with pictures. The site is arranged so you can go from
one page to any other from all the pages or from the
Timeline page.

Spartacus
is one of three films that cover the transition of Rome from
Republic to Empire. The others (
Cleopatra and I,
Claudius) are also available here. They are part of the
larger History in
Film web site that supports teaching history using
popular films. It includes films from Rome up to the war in Vietnam.

I'd enjoy hearing your comments on this site. Please sign the Guestbook.
I hope you enjoy your visit.

Plot
Summary Part I

Outline
Part I

Plot
Summary Part II

Outline
Part II

Timeline

Film
Stats
Historical epic,
Rome.

Stars

.

Kirk
Douglas, Sir Laurence Olivier, Jeanne Simmons, Charles
Laughton, Tony Curtis

Director

Stanley
Kubrick

Producer

Kirk
Douglas (executive), Edward Lewis

Year

1960

Released
by

Universal

Based on the
book by Howard Fast

Buy
the Book

Buy the
Movie

If you're a teacher who is interested in using this film and you
would like these pages to edit and print as your own, they are all
available here
as Rich Text Format files in one relatively small WinZip
package. Alternatively, if you only want a few of the files, each
page has a download link for that RTF WinZip file alone (usually 3
or 4 K). If you would like the short answer essay test that
accompanies this film, please E-mail me at the mail box below. I'd
be glad to send it back to you.

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John Woggon

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