# Spartacus War of the Damned

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 26, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432 "2013-01-26T14:18:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/1 "2013-01-26T14:18:07Z")

</div>

aka Blood and Boobs in ancient Rome:p

Caught the first episode and thought that it was quite a good startto what is the final season. Lots of gore and fucking.

\*The character of Marcus Crassus has more dept than every Roman combined thus far. He is fucking brilliant. Pity he will lose that come Persia time in 20years.

\*The seeds of conflict between Crixus and Sparty start with Naevia little complaint to Crixus in the tent.

\*Whats with the cute slavewoman in Crassues house. She seems to be quite devoted to Crassus Junior (and disliked by Mrs Crassus). Are they going to horror horror show the often long term relationships that many Roman had with slaves, relationshio which went beyond the mere master-slave one?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/2 "2013-01-26T16:38:04Z")

</div>

I liked this episode a lot - not as aimless as the first episode of last season. Crassus is looking like he’ll be a worthy villain to finish this one out.

If anyone wants to see this episode, [Starz is offering it streaming for free online.](http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus/Videos/#/free-spartacus-war-of-the-damned-episode-1)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/3 "2013-01-27T22:38:14Z")

</div>

Promising start. Crassus is shaping up to be a pretty good villain .

I’ll be sad to see this series end.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/4 "2013-01-28T19:28:33Z")

</div>

I thought Crassus was too perfect. He was a great business man but I never pictured him as a great fighter. That is what I like about the show though, they really develop the characters and relationships, so I’m not going to complain. Could still do without the splashing blood.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/5 "2013-01-28T19:57:37Z")

</div>

> [@shiftless](#):
>
> I thought Crassus was too perfect. He was a great business man but I never pictured him as a great fighter.

The (historical) Crassus had a pretty successful military career both against Spartacus and before that, under Sulla. It usually gets overshadowed by his defeat/death by the Parthians, and the even more successful careers of his contemporaries, so I was glad “War of the Damned” emphasized that instead of going with the more predictable “generic rich businessman villain” route.

Granted I doubt the real Crassus really spent a lot of time training in one-on-one combat with ex-gladiators, but it wouldn’t be Spartacus if a character was introduced without him personally killing someone, having sex with someone or having sex while killing someone.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/6 "2013-01-28T21:26:36Z")

</div>

> [@Simplicio](#):
>
> but it wouldn’t be Spartacus if a character was introduced without him personally killing someone, having sex with someone or having sex while killing someone.

True. But you forgot having sex in the pool of blood of the person you just killed for double crossing you and killing the last person you had sex with previously. Or is it the other way around? Sometimes I forget why they are killing and fucking any particular person and who cares?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/7 "2013-01-29T04:41:13Z")

</div>

The damned good looking!  
Spartacus commanded me to tell that joke.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/8 "2013-02-02T13:26:37Z")

</div>

A bit of a let down after the first episode, but still good. I did not like Crassus relations with the cute slavegirl, if Plutrach is to be believed, he unlike most Romans of that era was actually devoted to his wife. Ceaser was a big disappointment, too chiseled, too blonde and too wild.

OTH I did like the Roman grain merchant and his wife, ordinary decent people, who are caught under. I also like the fact that they did not fail to show the blood and rape that occurred when the city fell, the slaves otherwise seem like 21st century characters.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/9 "2013-02-02T13:30:14Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Simplicio]

Granted I doubt the real Crassus really spent a lot of time training in one-on-one combat with ex-gladiators, but it wouldn’t be Spartacus if a character was introduced without him personally killing someone, having sex with someone or having sex while killing someone.  
[/QUOTE]

At the time, the Roman Army was still in transition from a citizens levy to a fully professional force and many units and formations were filled with less than steller recruits, one of the reasons for Spartacus success. There are documented cases of gladiators being called in to give lessons to recruits in this era and earlier.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/10 "2013-02-02T17:13:10Z")

</div>

I did like the last episode where Spartacus was given a perfect setup to say “I am Spartacus”(the noblewoman asks “you follow Spartacus”), but instead he says, “no, I’m the man himself.”

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/11 "2013-02-06T03:07:14Z")

</div>

> [@AK84](#):
>
> A bit of a let down after the first episode, but still good. I did not like Crassus relations with the cute slavegirl, if Plutrach is to be believed, he unlike most Romans of that era was actually devoted to his wife.

I’m kinda wondering if she’s some kind of tribute to the character played by Jean Simmons in the 1960 film - a slave woman who was the subject of Crassus’s obsession. In that movie, she was Spartacus’s lover/wife/mother of his child. Maybe in this version, she’ll eventually meet Spartacus and, just for laughs, be the one that ultimately kills him.

> [@](#):
>
> Ceaser was a big disappointment, too chiseled, too blonde and too wild.

I kept thinking he wandered over from the _Sons of Anarchy_ set.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/12 "2013-02-06T04:05:28Z")

</div>

I had the same thought. I was expecting Caesar to be a more regal and disciplined character, but this one looks like he belongs in a rock band.

And that scene he had with the slave–was she slicing his dick while she blew him or something?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/13 "2013-02-06T17:07:55Z")

</div>

> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#):
>
> I did like the last episode where Spartacus was given a perfect setup to say “I am Spartacus”(the noblewoman asks “you follow Spartacus”), but instead he says, “no, I’m the man himself.”

Word. I thought the same thing.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/14 "2013-02-09T18:14:19Z")

</div>

> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#):
>
> I did like the last episode where Spartacus was given a perfect setup to say “I am Spartacus”(the noblewoman asks “you follow Spartacus”), but instead he says, “no, I’m the man himself.”

They did it again in this week’s episode:  
“Are you Spartacus”  
“I am so named”.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/15 "2013-02-10T09:42:02Z")

</div>

Superb episode. Conniving, orgying, fighting in equal measure. I do wonder what the arcs of the cute slave girl stalking Gannicus are going to lead to. I also like the Roman aristocratic woman and the way she points out how little difference there is between Sparty and the Romans he claims to detest.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/16 "2013-02-10T17:49:52Z")

</div>

What the… Gannicus was the sausage in a _four_-way just two episodes ago and now he balks when his superhot blonde girlfriend literally pushes a superhot brunette at him?

Now if it taken a more violent tone, say the blonde forces the brunette forward, twists her arms behind her, slams her to her knees to service Gannicus, then pulls a knife and kills her at the moment of his climax because, damnit, he’s _her_ man… that, I could buy.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/17 "2013-02-11T05:16:29Z")

</div>

> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> What the… Gannicus was the sausage in a _four_-way just two episodes ago and now he balks when his superhot blonde girlfriend literally pushes a superhot brunette at him?
> 
> Now if it taken a more violent tone, say the blonde forces the brunette forward, twists her arms behind her, slams her to her knees to service Gannicus, then pulls a knife and kills her at the moment of his climax because, damnit, he’s _her_ man… that, I could buy.

It’s been established that Gannicus does have some morals. She is rather young.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/18 "2013-02-11T09:07:15Z")

</div>

I am confident nobody feels compelled to verify that her age is truly on file.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/19 "2013-02-11T19:45:48Z")

</div>

Boy is daddy going to be pissed when he finds out what junior did to his army.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432/20 "2013-02-11T19:59:40Z")

</div>

Funny thing is, all boy-soldier had to do is throw one spear, then the mutually mistrustful gladiators and pirates would have slaughtered each other.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spartacus-war-of-the-damned/648432.md?page=2)
