Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus And His Roman Republic

Construction, Corruption, and Destruction Political agendas differ starkly throughout Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus and his Roman Republic. By analyzing the actions, opinions, and rhetoric of the individuals within their political groups, we gain a better understanding of the story’s three fundamental ideological pursuits, each represented by Spartacus, Crassus, and Gracchus. Spartacus and his slaves have the single mission of escaping Rome and returning home. Crassus and his followers seek to restore order in the state through aristocratic control and dictatorship. Gracchus will do anything in his power to maintain the Republic’s loose democracy and aims to eliminate its biggest threats, primarily Crassus. However, all three share a common goal: rebel and revolt against other strengthening regimes. Crassus and Gracchus’s roles at the tops of …show more content…
Every slave is crucified except for Varinia and her son, who must live under Crassus’s roof. Love is the one asset he realizes he is not entitled to; no amount of battle scars or begging can win the heart of a woman. Seeing as Varinia is the only possession Crassus cares about, Gracchus makes one last effort to demoralize his rival. With essentially a blank check, he arranges for the kidnapping and release of Varinia and her son, emphasizing the extent that Gracchus is willing to go in order to hamper a powerful rebel. Publically, Crassus and Gracchus are political allies, but there were always undertones of corruption, envy, and lust that led to strategic revolt and betrayal. This evil leaked so profusely through Rome that it began to inflict and affect even the lower-classes. Slaves lashed back after enduring years of emotional and physical suffering. Crassus could only try to stop what he started, lest he be humiliated further by Gracchus and his peers. For those pushed to the brink, revolution becomes the only