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Spartacus Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
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Spartacus Trivia

Spartacus Movie Trivia Quizzes

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5 Spartacus quizzes and 45 Spartacus trivia questions.
1.
  Who's Who: "Spartacus"   great trivia quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
The 1960 movie "Spartacus" was based on the historic novel "Spartacus" (1951) by Howard Fast. See if you can match the characters in the movie with their descriptions. As an added hint, the actor who played the role has been added in the clue.
Easier, 10 Qns, ponycargirl, Oct 30 17
Easier
ponycargirl editor
Oct 30 17
375 plays
2.
  "Spartacus" HTH   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Here are some questions from the test over the 1960 film "Spartacus", from my History Through Hollywood class. Have fun.
Average, 10 Qns, shvdotr, Jun 05 13
Average
shvdotr gold member
263 plays
3.
  Take this Spartacus Quiz   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Made in 1960, "Spartacus" is a breath-taking and brilliant film. Hopefully this quiz will remind you of just how good it is and prompt you to watch it again.
Average, 10 Qns, zippolover, Aug 10 14
Average
zippolover
413 plays
4.
  Spartacus    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
After "Ben-Hur" and before "Gladiator", one film defined the Roman Epic: "Spartacus"!
Average, 10 Qns, pipspriller, Mar 18 18
Average
pipspriller
Mar 18 18
1175 plays
5.
  5 Questions: Spartacus Multiple Choice Quiz    
Multiple Choice
 5 Qns
Here's a quiz about the movie, 'Spartacus,' starring Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, and Laurence Olivier.
Average, 5 Qns, JsusFreak, May 08 06
Average
JsusFreak
1249 plays
Related Topics
  Other Categories of Interest [Movies] (0 quizzes)


Spartacus Trivia Questions
1. At the start of the movie "Spartacus", our protagonist did not make a very good slave so was sent for gladiator training. What did he do that was so wrong?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: He bit a soldier on the ankle.

Although he was a house slave, Spartacus was a proud man. He did not lower his eyes or get out of the way of the Romans quickly enough. When he tried to help someone and a soldier stepped in, Spartacus bit him on the ankle and was sentenced to death. He was taken by the owner of the local gladiator training school instead.

2. This film is about a gladiator named Spartacus and something else. What else does it primarily deal with?

From Quiz "Spartacus" HTH

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.

3. Spartacus originally came from which Roman province?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: Thrace

After attacking a guard, another Roman is heard to refer to Spartacus as a "Thracian dog!"

4. For how long has Spartacus remained a slave?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: Since he was a boy

He became a slave when he was about 12 or 13.

5. Spartacus admired a fellow slave, named Varinia, from a distance. When this was noticed she was sent to his quarters one night as a reward. What happened?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: They just talked.

Spartacus exercised self-restraint as he knew that Varinia was only there because she had no choice in the matter. He showed her great respect and she started to see that he was more than a fighter.

6. According to the film's narration, Spartacus was born to whom?

From Quiz "Spartacus" HTH

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".

7. Lentalus Batiatus (the Owner of Capua) was played by whom?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: Peter Ustinov

Peter Ustinov stole the show and won as best supporting actor for his role in "Spartacus".

8. Why did Draba the African gladiator slave die?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: He refused to kill Spartacus after he disarmed him.

After disarming and defeating Spartacus, Draba refused to kill him. Instead, he attacked the Romans and was killed by them.

9. Who was the owner of the gladiator school near Capua, from which Spartacus escaped?

From Quiz "Spartacus" HTH

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.

10. A former slave, he became the trainer for the gladiators. He is later killed by Spartacus (being drowned in a vat of stew). What was his name?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: Marcellus

The riot started when Marcellus hit Spartacus in the mouth with his whip after he sarcastically tells him, "no talking, slave..."

11. Where did Varinia and Spartacus first meet?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: In a holding cell

The two of them met for the first time in a holding cell for Spartacus. They later married.

12. Varinia was sold to Crassus who then arranged for her to be sent to Rome. Marcellus, the chief gladiator trainer, taunted Spartacus. What happened next, which was the beginning of the slave uprising?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: Spartacus killed Marcellus.

By fighting back and killing Marcellus, there was no way out for Spartacus. The other slaves joined in and they defeated their trainers and fled into the Roman countryside.

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

From Quiz "Spartacus" HTH

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.

14. Spartacus and his followers were encamped near this famous volcano. What is it?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: Mount Vesuvius

As told during the meeting of the Roman Senate, the speaker at the forum describes Spartacus and his slave army encamped at the escarpments of Mt. Vesuvius.

15. When fighting a fellow gladiator of his, Spartacus lost and Crassus ordered him to be killed. What happened instead?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: The fellow gladiator rebelled and was killed

The fellow gladiator of Spartacus didn't want to kill him so he threw one of his weapons into the spectator box where Crassus was sitting. Needless to say, the Roman guards killed the gladiator.

16. How did Spartacus gain notoriety in Libya, while Batiatus was on a buying trip for possible gladiators for his school?

From Quiz "Spartacus" HTH

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.

17. In a scene originally cut from the movie, Marcus Licinius Crassus asks his slave Antoninus "if he liked _______ or ________?"

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: oysters snails

The scene was restored for the re-mastered print with Anthony Hopkins pinch-hitting for Laurence Olivier as they had lost the original audio. It was censored during its first release due to the sexual ambiguities the scene suggested which was taboo at that time.

18. What was the fate of Spartacus?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: He was crucified

He was forced by Crassus to fight to the death with one of his fellow slaves and the victor would be crucified. Despite his fellow slave's efforts to kill him (he didn't want Spartacus to be crucified, he loved him too much), Spartacus killed his fellow slave and was crucified.

19. The army of slaves started to rob the country estates, not just for food. What was their additional reason?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: To pay for ships to escape from Italy

Right from the beginning of the movie, Spartacus dreamed of a time when all of the slaves were freed. He knew that their Roman masters would never set them free so it was decided that they would leave Italy.

20. With whom did Spartacus fight his final gladiatorial battle?

From Quiz "Spartacus" HTH

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.

21. Glabrus, commander of the garrison of Rome and Crassus's lackey was to depart the city with how many number of cohorts?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: 6

They also left at night as Crassus did not want a spectacle. (A cohort is the ancient equivalent of a modern battalion).

22. Varinia escaped and joined up with the slave army along with Antoninus, who was an entertainer in the Crassus household. Why did Antoninus (played by Tony Curtis) run away?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: Crassus had tried to seduce him.

"Spartacus" was made in 1960, so the attempted seduction scene was very subtle. Tony Curtis was young and very good looking. Laurence Olivier, as Crassus, implied so much by looks and gestures and proved yet again what a great actor he was.

23. 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?

From Quiz "Spartacus" HTH

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.

24. Who was Spartacus' second-in-command?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: Crixus

He had been the first of a matched pair of gladiators for Crassus' entertainment in Capua and is later killed in the final battle against Crassus' legions.

25. At whose hands was the slave army under Spartacus defeated?

From Quiz "Spartacus" HTH

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.

26. Finish this quote: "Batiatus: Come with us, make sure that I don't waste all the money. Gracchus: Don't be ridiculous, I'm a ________ ."

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: senator

Gracchus later kills himself off-screen as he was exiled to Picenum (the most rotten corner of all Italy). He was Crassus' most tenacious foe in the Roman Senate.

27. Crassus defeated the slaves, but was enraged that Varinia was still loyal to Spartacus. To exact his revenge he forced Spartacus and Antoninus to fight. Why did Spartacus kill his friend?

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: To save him from crucifixion

In probably the most famous scene in the film, when Spartacus was told to reveal himself to save the lives of the escaped slaves, Antoninus stepped forward and shouted, "I am Spartacus!" His cry was taken up by the others in a united statement that they preferred death to a return to slavery. Crassus recognised Spartacus from the gladiator ring and forced him to fight Antoninus to the death. He told them that the winner would be crucified along with the others.

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

From Quiz "Spartacus" HTH

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.

29. Name the port that was the slave army's main destination? (Arrangements were made for the slaves to embark on ships provided by the Cilician pirates to bring them home)

From Quiz Spartacus

Answer: Brundisium

The advance scouting party exclaimed, "Tonight, we camp by the sea!" The ships never came and the slaves had to face Crassus as the armies of Pompey and Lucullus were closing in.

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