Spartacus (Blood and Sand) Episode: The Red Serpent

An individual on average would fight about three times a year, and for the rest of the time travel with the troop. The troops swore an oath to their master, and traveled from city to city looking for work (Roman Gladiator). The social class of the Gladiators was rather ironic in itself. On one hand they were considered slaves, that's the lowest class in a social structure, but on the other hand, some gained popularity and were looked upon as great warriors and heroes. Some rose to celebrity status in a short time as in the movie when Maximus became a hero to the public eye, worthy of praise of greater importance than even the king himself. In the movie this was a direct result in the downfall of Commodus, but this isn't factual, as Maximus is a fictional character. It just demonstrates the influence the Gladiators had on the public eye, he was the ‘Rockstar of the Roman Empire'.

Of the many monumental constructions that the Romans built, one of the most well known is the Coliseum, where brave Gladiators would fight dangerous animals and even each other to entertain the people of Rome. When people see the great arena, it is easy for them to forget the countless men, women, and animals that died fighting each other for amusement. Most people don’t know what it took for them to fight and either win or die, or how many hours they must have spent training to have a chance at defeating their opponents. Who were these gladiators?

The Gladiator epic directed by Riley Scott (2000) is based on real life events of the Roman Empire, their society, as well as the role of gladiators. Scott tried to portray the Roman culture as accurately as he could, and even went further to ensure his authenticity by hiring several historians to do so . It is supported by the findings of historians’ research. The film is historically accurate in most parts, including the role of gladiators; gladiatorial games and the aspects of Roman society such as the religions and beliefs. Some characters such as Commodus, Lucilla and Marcus were loosely based on the real life characters. However some parts of the film were exaggerated such as the battles in the arena, where gladiators fought to

Spartacus: (c. 109–71 BC) One of the slave leaders who led a major revolt against the Roman empire, in the Third Servile War. Spartacus has become symbolic of

The book The Spartacus War by Barry Strauss is an in depth look at one of Roman history’s most legendary events, the gladiator revolt led by Spartacus. Spartacus has become a legend, creating a storyline that has inspired many movies and television shows, such as Stanley Kubrick’s epic Spartacus in 1960, starring the legendary Kirk Douglas. Spartacus has inspired a perfect mix of men over time with various backgrounds and beliefs, from Stalin and Marx, to Voltaire, and even to Ronald Reagan. How though, did Spartacus create a massive revolt of slaves that would create a massive problem for the mighty Rome? Strauss attempts to create a chronology of the Spartacus War using his vast knowledge of the Italian landscape, ancient documents, and

The different colors of the cherry filling show different emotions that Abigail cleverly hides under her beauty. The differing shades of red reveal characteristics of Abigail. The dark red of the cherries symbolizes love. However, the darkness of the shade connotes a stronger love, turning into passion or even infatuation. After being dismissed from the Proctor household and Proctor distanced himself and denounced her, she still believes for over seven months that he loves her. Abigail's infatuation with Proctor also suggests a more physical attraction between them, rather than love. Though Proctors says that he would “cut off [his] hand before [he’d] ever reach for [her] again” (23) she continues to pursue him. Dark red could also symbolize

Spartacus was said to have lead the slave riot along with two other slaves by the names of Crixus and Oenamus (Czech). Spartacus and his fellow leaders led a revolt of about 200 gladiators, armed with kitchen utensils and anything else they could find to fight with. Although they had large numbers they only made it out with about 70 men (Czech). After the army made it out of the school they hit the streets and found a wagon full of gladiator weapons that they used against Roman officials (Gill). They then took the much better weapons from the officials they had killed (Gill). These escaped gladiators used their skills in the streets of Capua, raiding houses and finding anything they could for supplies. Picking up rural slaves as they went, their numbers and confidence grew. When they finally stopped their raids they started to make their way up a volcano by the name of Vesuvius

Spartacus, translating to “from the city of Sparta” in Latin, was a Roman gladiator who began as a “Thracian, born among pastoral nomadic people” according to Plutarch. This northern area of Greece that holds the title of Spartacus’ birth place was believed to be one of Rome’s earliest enemies. Historians suspect his birthdate to be around that of 109BC and know his date of death to be 71BC. This gives him a lifespan of around 37 years. Minimal information is documented prior to his rise to fame. One of the first pieces discovered about Spartacus timeline was in 78BC when he was incarcerated and forced to train as a gladiator. This enslavement was most likely due to either deserting his cause or committing a crime and sold as a slave as a form of punishment, although often the accusations that put people into slavery were unfair and biased due to aspects such as race and gender. Because of

With Spartacus’ name growing among the city it caused him to have enemies because he was being called the greatest gladiator of Rome. The former gladiator champion Crixus of Gaul was wanting his title back from Spartacus so he was training very hard to get back his crown from him. While Crixus and others fighting and training hard to get to where Spartacus is. Meanwhile Spartacus is looking at the bigger picture. He is starting to see how barbaric and cruel being a gladiator is and he really doesn 't want to do it anymore. Seeing this, Spartacus is trying to get the point across to the other gladiators and telling them that this is wrong and they are going to have to take a stand. The other gladiators are not hearing him right away because the Roman Empire has them brainwashed. The Romans tell the gladiators that it is a honor dying for their country, but really they are not. They are really dying for the entertainment of the people of Rome. With time Spartacus got the point across to some of the fighter but, he had trouble with some of them such as Crixus and other head gladiator Gannicus. This is because they refused to fight

This book cover, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, depicts Chi Li in the midst of executing her plan to kill the serpent.

The ancient Chinese myth Chi Li Slays the Serpent is one of the few remarkable stories of heroines in Asian lore. Contrary to the usual lifestyles of mythological heroes/heroines having exceptionally honorable backgrounds and being directly linked to gods, Chi Li was an ordinary girl, youngest of six sisters in an ordinary family that was just barely getting by. She also showed no interest in becoming a hero at all, in fact, her plan was to sacrifice herself for the sake of her family to save resources. She volunteered to be an offering to the serpent even after her parents explicitly rejected the idea. Chi Li does put herself last. She considers herself expendable, telling her parents that her death will mean more food

After its debut in America on May 5th of 2000, the movie Gladiator has been a nationwide symbol of heroism(Imdb). The film was directed by Ridley Scott and the lead roles of the film were carried out by Russell Crowe as Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus(Imdb). The movie takes place during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire in the year 180 A.D. The Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, is dying and wishes to leave the Roman Empire under the control of Roman General Maximus Meridius. The Emperor’s son Commodus betrays Maximus, kills his father, and takes control of Rome. In betraying Maximus, Commodus has his family killed. Maximus knowing this returns to Rome as a gladiator under the alias “Spaniard” in search of revenge(Imdb). According to

Augustus, the time of, the Samnites were allies of Rome, and the name disappeared. "The Roman Gladiator." Sir Thomas Browne. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/gladiators.html>.

By birth a Thracian, Spartacus was slaved by the Roman Army then trained as a gladiator. He served in an Roman auxiliary unit for some short time, vacated his duties and became an insurgent against the Romans. Upon his escape, he became the leader of 90,000 men in a revolt against Rome. The war started in 73 B.C., when Spartacus aided those in the Gladiator school to escape by utilizing kitchen utensils as weapons. The gladiators then took refuge on the side of Mount Vesuvius (which is near modern day Naples) led by Spartacus and his aides Crixus, Castus, Gannicus and

In the movie Gladiator, Russell Crowe plays a battle hardened Roman General who, through a series of unfortunate events, becomes a gladiator. He starts out on the front lines of a battle against barbarians. The war against them has been going on for some time however this is the final battle that will end the war. The battle rages and the Romans come out victorious. The Caesar then emerges and praises Maximus (Russell Crowe) for his leadership. The Caesar then asks him if he will become Caesar after his death because his son Commodus is not fit to rule. Commodus hates his father’s decision and kills him so his wish will die with him. Commodus then orders Maximus to be killed, he escapes and rides as fast as he can back home but is too late. He comes home to find his wife and son burned alive. He is then captured and sold into slavery where he becomes a gladiator and moves up in the ranks as a skilled fighter. He makes friends with a black slave and they both move together up to larger arenas. He makes it to the Coliseum where he reveals himself to Commodus declaring he will have his vengence. Commodus accepts Maximus’ challenge after delivering a fatal wound to his back. He fights Commodus despite the injury and kills him but then dies himself.