''Spartacus: Gods of the Arena'' is a television
miniseries broadcast by American cable TV
Starz, as a
prequel to ''
Spartacus
Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...
'', which premiered January 21, 2011. The series follows the character Gannicus (
Dustin Clare), the first
gladiator representing
Lentulus Batiatus
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Vatia (also called Lentulus Batiatus by Plutarch) was the Roman owner of a gladiatorial school in ancient Capua. It was from this school that, in 73 BC, the Thracian slave Spartacus and about 70 to 78 followers escaped. T ...
to become Champion of
Capua
Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain.
History
Ancient era
The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...
. Cast members and characters reprised from the original series include
John Hannah as
Batiatus,
Lucy Lawless
Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' seri ...
as Lucretia,
Peter Mensah as
Oenomaus,
Nick E. Tarabay
Nick Emad Tarabay (born 28 August 1975) is a Lebanese-born American actor. He is known for portraying Ashur on the Starz television series ''Spartacus'' and Cotyar on the Amazon Prime Video science fiction television series ''The Expanse''.
...
as Ashur,
Lesley-Ann Brandt
Lesley-Ann Brandt (born 2 December 1981) is a South African actress. Brandt has acted in a number of New Zealand television series and first came to international notice with her role as a slave girl Naevia in the series '' Spartacus: Blood and ...
as Naevia,
Antonio Te Maioha
Antonio Te Maioha (born 1 February 1970) is a television and film actor from New Zealand. He came to international prominence playing a gladiator Barca, the Beast of Carthage, in the television drama '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'' and its preque ...
as Barca, and
Manu Bennett
Jonathan Manu Bennett (born 10 October 1969) is a New Zealand actor. He is primarily known for portraying characters in epic fantasy works, such as Crixus in the TV series ''Spartacus'', Allanon in '' The Shannara Chronicles'', Slade Wilson / ...
as
Crixus.
The miniseries aired in Canada on
Movie Central
Movie Central (occasionally abbreviated as "MC", mostly in program guides) was a Canadian English language Category A premium cable and satellite television channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment. Movie Central was designated to operat ...
and
The Movie Network
Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc.
Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequent ...
,
on
Sky1 in the United Kingdom and on
FX in Latin America.
Cast
Slaves
*
Dustin Clare as
Gannicus
Gannicus was a Celtic slave, who together with the Thracian Spartacus, Crixus, Castus and Oenomaus, became one of the leaders of rebel slaves during the Third Servile War (73–71 BC). In the winter of 71 BC, Gannicus, along with Castus, broke ...
– a
Celtic gladiator who is the champion of the Batiatus' ''ludus''.
*
Peter Mensah as
Oenomaus/Doctore – a
Numidian
Numidia (Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisi ...
gladiator who later becomes the ''doctore'' of Batiatus' gladiators.
*
Marisa Ramirez
Marisa Maguire Ramirez (born September 15, 1977) is an American actress, known for her work on television soap operas and for her role on the American police procedural television drama series '' Blue Bloods'' as Detective Maria Baez.
Early ...
as Melitta – Lucretia's body slave, the wife of Oenomaus.
*
Manu Bennett
Jonathan Manu Bennett (born 10 October 1969) is a New Zealand actor. He is primarily known for portraying characters in epic fantasy works, such as Crixus in the TV series ''Spartacus'', Allanon in '' The Shannara Chronicles'', Slade Wilson / ...
as
Crixus – a new
Gallic gladiatorial recruit.
*
Nick E. Tarabay
Nick Emad Tarabay (born 28 August 1975) is a Lebanese-born American actor. He is known for portraying Ashur on the Starz television series ''Spartacus'' and Cotyar on the Amazon Prime Video science fiction television series ''The Expanse''.
...
as Ashur – a new
Syrian gladiatorial recruit.
*
Shane Rangi as Dagan – a gladiatorial recruit who speaks only
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
, and fellow Syrian to Ashur.
*
Antonio Te Maioha
Antonio Te Maioha (born 1 February 1970) is a television and film actor from New Zealand. He came to international prominence playing a gladiator Barca, the Beast of Carthage, in the television drama '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'' and its preque ...
as Barca – a
Carthaginian gladiator.
*
Josef Brown
Josef Brown (born 8 October 1969) is an Australian actor, dancer and choreographer. Brown attended The McDonald College of the Arts and the Australian Ballet School, where he was promoted to soloist in 1994. He joined the Sydney Dance Company ...
as Auctus – a gladiator and Barca's lover.
*
Temuera Morrison
Temuera Derek Morrison (born 26 December 1960) is a New Zealand actor and Singer who first gained recognition for his role as Dr. Hone Ropata on the soap opera ''Shortland Street''. He gained critical acclaim for his starring role as Jake "The ...
as Ulpius/Doctore – Oenomaus' predecessor as the trainer of Batiatus' gladiators.
*
Lesley-Ann Brandt
Lesley-Ann Brandt (born 2 December 1981) is a South African actress. Brandt has acted in a number of New Zealand television series and first came to international notice with her role as a slave girl Naevia in the series '' Spartacus: Blood and ...
as Naevia – a young house-slave.
*
Jessica Grace Smith
Jessica Grace Smith (born 18 February 1985) is a New Zealand actress, writer and director. Smith graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 2009 with a Bachelor in Performing Arts (Acting). Smith played the role of Denny Miller on ...
as Diona – a house-slave and Naevia's friend who loses her virginity at the whim of Cossutius.
Romans
*
John Hannah as Quintus
Lentulus Batiatus
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Vatia (also called Lentulus Batiatus by Plutarch) was the Roman owner of a gladiatorial school in ancient Capua. It was from this school that, in 73 BC, the Thracian slave Spartacus and about 70 to 78 followers escaped. T ...
– a ''lanista''
*
Lucy Lawless
Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' seri ...
as Lucretia – Batiatus' wife.
*
Jaime Murray
Jaime Erica Murray (born 21 July 1976) is an English actress. She is known for playing Stacie Monroe in the BBC series '' Hustle'' (2004–2012), Lila West in the Showtime series ''Dexter'' (2007), Gaia in the Starz miniseries '' Spartacus: ...
as Gaia – a social climber and Lucretia's friend.
* Craig Walsh Wrightson as Marcus Decius Solonius – Batiatus' close friend who has aspirations of becoming a lanista himself.
*
Jeffrey Thomas as Titus Lentulus Batiatus – Quintus Batiatus' father and the ''
pater familias
The ''pater familias'', also written as ''paterfamilias'' (plural ''patres familias''), was the head of a Roman family. The ''pater familias'' was the oldest living male in a household, and could legally exercise autocratic authority over his ext ...
'' of the House of Batiatus.
*
Stephen Lovatt as Tullius – Batiatus' brutal business rival and enemy.
*
Gareth Williams as Vettius – owner of a rival ''ludus'' and enemy of Batiatus.
Episodes
Production
The opportunity to produce ''Gods of the Arena'' emerged when the second season of ''
Spartacus
Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...
'' was halted while lead actor
Andy Whitfield battled
non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tirednes ...
. Series creator and
executive producer Steven S. DeKnight expanded a single
flashback episode for the second season into a six-part mini-series.
Production for ''Gods of the Arena'' began in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in August 2010.
References
External links
*
*
{{Saturn Award for Best Television DVD Release
2010s American drama television miniseries
2011 American television series debuts
2011 American television series endings
2011 American television seasons
American prequel television series
Gladiatorial combat in fiction
Spartacus (TV series)
Starz original programming
Television dramas set in ancient Rome
Television series created by Sam Raimi
Television series set in the 1st century BC