The Others

This chapter details the series' frank presentation of what contemporary viewers would call “second-class” citizens, namely the male and female slaves in the villa and the ludus of Batiatus. It also calls them “the others,” that is, those figures who are normally given little or no voice in the historical sources on the society and civilization of antiquity. This chapter discusses how audiences might perceive and comprehend the role of the non-elite women depicted in STARZ Spartacus, taking into consideration the extent to which modern scholarship on gender in classical antiquity now informs our understanding of love, sexuality, familial relationships, and marriage in the ancient world, whether they are accurately or approximately depicted on the small screen.