In the second episode of Spartacus’ third season, “Wolves at the Gate,” Spartacus realizes that his army needs food and adequate shelter. The rebels decide to take the city Sinuessa en Valle by force.
And by way of Marcus Crassus, we are introduced to Julius Caesar. This is not the dark-haired Caesar with the cropped hair so often seen in film and television. No, this Caesar must hail from the land of Californium with wavy blonde hair and blue (or green?) eyes. He has the stereotypical looks of a surfer boy, though others may see a closer resemblance to Thor the Odinson.
He’s also brash, petulant, and eager to have the slave girl Kora. She belongs to Crassus, though, and master and slave enjoy an intimate moment before Crassus prepares to leave with his army. While he ordered his wife to stay at the villa during his absence, giving her no alternative but to obey, he asks Kora if she would like to go with him. Stark contrast between the way he treats the women in his life.
While Spartacus, Gannicus and Crixus wander the streets of the city they’re preparing to take over, they see a slave tied up. He uses Spartacus’ name as a curse against his oppressors, and he is immediately stoned. To save him more misery, Spartacus casts the final stone, literally splitting the man’s head in two. Don’t ever watch this show if you have a sensitivity to onscreen violence.
The end of the episode is even more difficult to watch, though. Once Spartacus’ army enters the city, the Romans don’t stand a chance. All are treated as the enemy—women, children, innocent merchants. The soldiers carry off the women, their clothes ripped from them as they scream. Children die in the streets. Blood-smeared walls serve to heighten the carnage, and we see Spartacus and his army cast in a different light. Thoughts form in confused mind: who are the real bad guys now? The lines between good and evil blur, even as Marcus Crassus, though Spartacus’ enemy, has shown himself to be a man of his word, and he treats his slaves gently. And with Kora, lovingly.
And in a final moment of uncharacteristic behavior, Spartacus throws a spear through the head of a merchant who merely threatened to destroy his grain. (Though one could argue that he and his men would die as a result, so he was threatening murder). Laeta, the man’s wife, screams in horror as he crumbles to the ground, and she finds herself now a prisoner of war. Her world is destroyed, but Spartacus and his men now have walls to house them and grain for food.
But at what cost? Has Spartacus lost his humanity in his quest for vengeance? And how far is he willing to go to destroy Rome?