“Look, touch, place orders for any of the men you covet.” – Quintus Batiatus
While Spartacus now bears the mark of the brotherhood after besting Crixus* in his “test” at the end of “Sacramentum Gladiatorum,” it doesn’t mean that the top dog gladiators of the House of Batiatus – chiefly Crixus and Barca – yet respect him.
* One might argue that he “kind of” bested Crixus, as his victory was not a clean or clear one, to say the least.
“Study, train, bleed, and one day your name will be legend,” the strict but fair Doctore – the coach of sorts of the ludus – tells his men, after which we see a montage of intense training in which Spartacus steadily improves his fighting skills.
A Vulcanalia is in the offing – a festival of ancient Rome meant to honor the god Vulcan and to ward off fires at the peak of the hottest part of the summer before the harvest – and the House of Batiatus has been invited to send 20 gladiators to participate. Two of those gladiators will be featured in the “primus,” and will thus “meet in the arena.”
As Quintus Batiatus and his wife Lucretia chat, we learn the drought in Capua has not yet ended, and that their finances are in as precarious a state as ever. Lucretia observes that “you must spend coin to make coin” to assuage her husband’s fears that buying his way into the Vulcanalia will come up empty.
There’s also a fun/gross moment in this scene where a slave holds up Batiatus’ gown while he urinates, after which Quintus casually wipes his hand off the slave’s back while chattering all along with Lucretia.
Over a meal in the slave quarters, Varrus relays that Barca is a legend for surviving a brutal contest he was forced into after the Romans defeated his people, the Carthaginians. He was forced to battle his own countrymen and was the only one to survive the carnage. Barca became known as the Beast of Carthage from that point on.
The brutal nature of war, conquest, slavery, and sport circa Ancient Rome are all highlighted by this single story.
Spartacus begs a word with Quintus and asks of his wife, Sura. Quintus relays that he has word that she has been sold into slavery to a Syrian merchant. When Spartacus presses his master/owner for more information, Batiatus snaps back that Spartacus should focus on winning in the arena and enriching his coffers. This is Batiatus’ leverage over his Thracian gladiator.
As the ruthless training on the sands of the ludus continue, Crixus is summoned to the chambers of his domina, Lucretia. We know from the events of the Gods of the Arena prequel series that she chose Crixus to sleep with in an attempt to have a child, but by now it seems she just enjoys a good romp while Quintus is away somewhere.
The power dynamic is strikingly clear: Crixus takes no real pleasure in the arrangement. While he’s the Champion of Capua, he’s still a slave and if Lucretia desires him as a plaything, he’s powerless to do anything but give her what she wants.
Back on the training ground, Spartacus managed to get on Doctore’s really wrong side and ends up in a hideous-looking waste pit and, what’s more, pal Varrus got thrown in as well for good measure. Even so, they share a moment where each talk about their dream of surviving long enough to take care of their respective wives.
Doctore announces that Crixus will face off against Gnaeus in the upcoming Vulcanalia. Crixus seems pleased that he has a worthy opponent. Spartacus and Varrus are tasked with fighting one another in the very first match, which is both insult and injury for the two friends – and, what’s more, the reward for winning will only be minimal.
Gnaeus’ fighting style is that of the retiarius, or a fisherman style, with use of the net and a three-pointed trident. As aside, I’ve always found this style to be a fascinating change-up from the more run of the mill sword and shield combination.
It’s clear that Spartacus doesn’t want to mix it up in a potentially deadly conflict with his friend Varrus, so he quickly concocts a little plan: goad Gnaeus. While Gnaeus is training with his net, Spartacus is able to quickly (and perhaps too quickly – his plan strikes pure gold nearly immediately) taunt Gnaeus into fighting him. When Gnaeus charges him, Spartacus quickly pivots and forces the retiarius to smash his face into a wooden pole, causing him to pass out.
When the gladiators aren’t training or fighting (or being called into Lucretia’s chambers), there’s yet more to the gig: being put on display to lure the wealthy class of Capua to put on games that will translate to revenue for the House of Batiatus.
“Look, touch, place orders for any of the men you covet,” Quintus says of his gladiators to his well-heeled party guests.
Ilithyia, wife of Legatus Glaber (who is off in Rome, we learn), takes a special interest in Crixus, which does not please her close pal Lucretia, of course. Lucretia, one of the all time great schemers in television history, has other ideas: she invites Ilithyia to watch Varrus uh, have relations with one of the house slaves. Varrus for his part can only think of his wife.
“Can he do it again?” Ilithyia asks Lucretia, thoughts of Crixus for the moment forgotten. “Make him do it again!”
“Proceed,” Lucretia responds, quite pleased with herself.
Later, as Quintus announces to the party that Crixus will face off against the “Sardinian” gladiator in the primus, Spartacus snaps and launches himself at Crixus. As the partygoers look on in surprise, Spartacus’ gambit pays off very nicely.
“See their hatred burning beyond control… tomorrow they will settle this grudge in the arena,” Quintus announces, seizing the moment, and from there it’s ensured that Spartacus will take the open slot to fight Crixus in the primus.
While awaiting their fates in the arena, the gladiators speak of Theokoles, the albino Celt fighting legend also known as the “shadow of death.” Myth and history mingle during these conversations, and Spartacus tells his fellow slaves that it’s all but idle stories for children.
Finally, it’s time for the Vulcanalia and the primus – it’s Crixus, Champion of Capua versus Spartacus, heralded as the gladiator who took down four of Solonius’ best in the arena.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand and the Spartacus series at large features lots of great action and fight scenes… but this isn’t one of them. Both Crixus and Spartacus are wearing helmets and wearing similar outfits, so it’s kind of hard to tell one from the other, and then they do yet another thing where Crixus gets the best of Spartacus and then takes his helmet off to soak in the wild cheers (and some women taking off their tops) in the crowd, allowing Spartacus time to recover and essentially get back to square one in the one-on-one battle.
Finally, somewhat out of nowhere, Crixus knocks Spartacus out with a vicious uppercut. Crixus then has his sword against Spartacus’ neck, waiting for the signal from Quintus to finish off the Thracian, Spartacus holds up two fingers in the sign he was taught to ask for mercy. This was something he swore he would never do, but when one’s life is on the line, the logic can go a little differently.
Quintus gladly grants his gladiator’s wish, telling the crowd, “Spartacus fought well.” But you can tell he only halfway means it, and the crowd agrees, booing loudly. Even the magistrate overseeing the Vulcanalia is annoyed that his bloodlust wasn’t sated, telling Quintus, “A sour bite to end the meal.”
That night, a humbled Spartacus tells Doctore that he will train harder to help him rise to Crixus’ level, but the one-time champion gladiator tells him that it’s too late now.
As he comforts himself as ever with the one piece of cloth that once belonged to Sura, it’s a low point in the legend of Spartacus.
Some stats and info about Spartacus: Blood and Sand – “Legends”
TV SHOW – Spartacus: Blood and Sand
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1, Episode 3
AIRED ON – February 5th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Starz
GENRE – Drama, Period Show, Historical Epic, Swords & Sandals
CREATED BY – Steven S. DeKnight
CAST – John Hannah, Manu Bennett, Peter Mensah, Dustin Clare, Nick E. Tarabay, Lucy Lawless, Stephen Lovatt, Daniel Feuerriegel, Viva Bianca, Pana Hema Taylor, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Heath Jones, Katrina Law, Ellen Hollman, Barry Duffield, Andy Whitfield, Craig Parker