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Quiz about Spartacus HTH
Quiz about Spartacus HTH

"Spartacus" HTH Trivia Quiz


Here are some questions from the test over the 1960 film "Spartacus", from my History Through Hollywood class. Have fun.

A multiple-choice quiz by shvdotr. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
shvdotr
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
359,655
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
259
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 86 (8/10), Guest 1 (9/10), Guest 126 (7/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. This film is about a gladiator named Spartacus and something else. What else does it primarily deal with? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. According to the film's narration, Spartacus was born to whom? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Who was the owner of the gladiator school near Capua, from which Spartacus escaped? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Spartacus fought a death match against Draba, as entertainment for Crassus and Glabrus in the gladiator school at Capua. How was Draba equipped? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. How did Spartacus gain notoriety in Libya, while Batiatus was on a buying trip for possible gladiators for his school? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. With whom did Spartacus fight his final gladiatorial battle? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. When Glabrus, as Commander of the Garrison of Rome, snuck off with six cohorts to put down the slave rebellion, whom did Senator Gracchus get appointed to head the Garrison? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. At whose hands was the slave army under Spartacus defeated? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. In a scene in the movie shortly after the first appearance of the fictional character Antoninus, who claimed to eat both snails and oysters? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. In their attempt to flee the Italian peninsula and the clutches of Rome, with whom did Spartacus secure a deal to effect this escape? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 19 2024 : Guest 86: 8/10
Feb 26 2024 : Guest 1: 9/10
Feb 18 2024 : Guest 126: 7/10
Feb 16 2024 : Guest 128: 9/10
Feb 09 2024 : sluggo13: 7/10
Jan 29 2024 : Guest 174: 10/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This film is about a gladiator named Spartacus and something else. What else does it primarily deal with?

Answer: slavery

The film ascribed to Spartacus a desire to end slavery. During the story, Spartacus repeatedly claimed that the aim of the slave army was not conquest, but freedom from slavery outside of Italy. Yet he was compelled to begin the slave rebellion because Varinia was being taken to Rome.

This is similar to the film "Braveheart" in which William Wallace was said to be fighting for freedom for the Scots from England, whereas he actually went to war when his wife was raped and killed.
2. According to the film's narration, Spartacus was born to whom?

Answer: a Roman slave in Thrace

Most historical evidence says Spartacus served in a Roman legion before being enslaved, thus he was not born in servitude. But history does confirm his status as a Thracian and a gladiator. He is also referred to in the film by his slave overseer as a Thracian, while the other three choices would not qualify him for Thracian status at all.

In the film, Spartacus also told the representative from the Cilician pirates that he was "the son and grandson of slaves".
3. Who was the owner of the gladiator school near Capua, from which Spartacus escaped?

Answer: Batiatus

Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus was an actual historical person. He was played in the film by Peter Ustinov, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In the film Batiatus became a collaborator with Gracchus in his attempts to frustrate Crassus' control of Spartacus, and especially, Varinia, Spartacus' wife. Crassus was a wealthy Roman noble, Marcellus was the slave instructor in Batiatus' school, and Antoninus was a slave belonging to Crassus before he escaped into the countryside.
4. Spartacus fought a death match against Draba, as entertainment for Crassus and Glabrus in the gladiator school at Capua. How was Draba equipped?

Answer: a trident and a net

Spartacus lost the fight, but Draba refused to kill him and instead attempted to attack Crassus in the viewing balcony. Crassus dispatched him, although the guard's spear in the back would undoubtedly have finished him off if Crassus had simply pushed him back onto the arena floor.
5. How did Spartacus gain notoriety in Libya, while Batiatus was on a buying trip for possible gladiators for his school?

Answer: He hamstrung a guard using only his teeth.

We saw in the film that when Spartacus was being disciplined by a guard, he responded by biting the back of the guard's ankle, thus severing the guard's hamstring. He was then subdued by other guards. Later, Batiatus remarked that "as the teeth go, so go the bones". Thus his assessment of Spartacus' future as a gladiator caused him to make the purchase.
6. With whom did Spartacus fight his final gladiatorial battle?

Answer: Antoninus

Spartacus and Antoninus, as the last two survivors of the slave army, were forced to battle to the death before the gates of Rome by Crassus. Crassus was thus able to doubly punish Spartacus, first by forcing him to kill his last friend, and then to crucify him.

But ultimately, Spartacus was able to see his wife and son escaping to freedom before he died on the cross in the film's final scene.
7. When Glabrus, as Commander of the Garrison of Rome, snuck off with six cohorts to put down the slave rebellion, whom did Senator Gracchus get appointed to head the Garrison?

Answer: Julius Caesar

In the film, just as Crassus had Glabrus appointed Commander of the Garrison of Rome as an ally against Gracchus' liberal agenda and as a tool in his desire to take over Rome, so Gracchus saw Caesar as his weapon against Crassus' manipulations. Historically, Julius Caesar was never commander of the Garrison of Rome.

In 75 B.C. (just prior to the start of the Third Servile War), Caesar was captured by pirates in the Aegean Sea and held for ransom. After his release, he hunted down the same pirates and crucified them.
8. At whose hands was the slave army under Spartacus defeated?

Answer: three legions led by Crassus, Pompey, and Lucullus

Classic historians like Plutarch and Appian agree that Spartacus died in this battle. But one of the film's most stirring moments occurred here, where all the survivors of the battle stood and declared themselves to be Spartacus. Historically, the body was never found nor identified among those crucified along the Appian Way leading to Rome.

In the film, as Crassus openly marched against the slave army, he secretly was coordinating his attack with the legions of Pompey and Lucullus, of whom Spartacus and his commanders were unaware of being in the field.
9. In a scene in the movie shortly after the first appearance of the fictional character Antoninus, who claimed to eat both snails and oysters?

Answer: Crassus

Antoninus had become Crassus' newly-acquired personal slave and Crassus, a super-wealthy patrician accustomed to having his way, used a taste for both snails and oysters as a metaphor for a person's sexual appetite, hoping to influence his new slave to be comfortable with an even more intimate relationship.

This was not one of the film's most inspiring scenes. But the viewer did get a glimpse into the magical abilities of Antoninus, as he disappeared almost before Crassus' eyes and ran off to join the slave rebellion.
10. In their attempt to flee the Italian peninsula and the clutches of Rome, with whom did Spartacus secure a deal to effect this escape?

Answer: the pirates of Cilicia

Spartacus secured the deal with a representative of the pirates at the cool price of fifty million sesterces' (or sestertii) worth of captured treasure for the use of fifty pirate ships. A sestertius has been estimated as being worth between $1.50 and $5. Apparently the pirates came off quite well, according to the plot, as they received an initial down payment of one chest of treasure from Spartacus and the slaves, as well as obtaining bribes from Gracchus, as well as Crassus, as both indicated in the storyline that they had also bribed the pirates, one on behalf of Spartacus (Gracchus), and one against the slave leader (Crassus). Crassus' bribe must have been the largest, since the pirates withdrew their ships, forcing Spartacus to fight Crassus and his allies.
Source: Author shvdotr

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor skunkee before going online.
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