USA 250: “I’m Spartacus!”
7/2/202648 min
Mary and Charlotte welcome Professor Maria Wyke back on the show to talk about two of the most famous words in cinema: “I’m Spartacus!” Hollywood has always had an obsession with Ancient Rome. So much so, the Roman Epic - or sword-and-sandal - is a cinematic genre in its own right. Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier and a host of other stars, is perhaps the towering achievement. But what is Spartacus really about?
It was adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Howard Fast’s 1951 novel. Both men had fallen foul of the House Un-American Activities Committee and were blacklisted from Hollywood. Their names were proudly displayed at the start of the film, marking the decline of the Committee’s influence on American culture. In some ways, the refusal by Spartacus’ slave army to betray their leader to the Roman authorities is a message about free speech and solidarity. The character of black slave Draba who defies white supremacist authority is also a statement on the Civil Rights movement. But the brilliance of Spartacus is that it defies easy interpretation and deliberately plays with themes and symbols - not least in the crucifixion scene at the end of the film.
Mary, Charlotte and Maria move forwards a few decades to Gladiator - and argue the power of that film is the way it similarly seems to, but doesn’t quite, push a moral message. Gladiator 2 on the other hand…
Further reading
Our wonderful guest Maria Wyke’s book Projecting the Past (Routlege, 1997) has a fascinating chapter on Spartacus
Howard Fast’s novel Spartacus, on which Kubrick’s film was based, is on the Internet Archive.
See also:
A. Futtrell, “Seeing Red”, in Sandra Joshel et al. (eds), Imperial Projections (Johns Hopkins UP, 2001)
Martin Winkler, Spartacus: Film and History (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007)
Martin Winkler, Gladiator: Film and History (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004)
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Maria Wyke· Guest0:17
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Charlotte Higgins· Host0:28
"I'm Spartacus."
Mary Beard· Host0:31
"No, I'm Spartacus."
Maria Wyke· Guest0:33
"I'm Spartacus."
Charlotte Higgins· Host0:34
This is one of the classic and much parodied lines from Stanley Kubrick's 1960 movie of that name, which dramatized the story of a nearly successful slave revolt against Rome in the 70s BCE under the charismatic renegade gladiator Spartacus, played by Kirk Douglas.
Mary Beard· Host0:54
The "I'm Spartacus" line is an expression of solidarity. When the Roman authorities demand that the slave rebels identify, and so hand over Spartacus, their revolutionary leader, they all claim to be him. "I'm Spartacus. We're all Spartacus. Don't single him out." In other words, we're all in this together.
Charlotte Higgins· Host1:18
Kubrick's Spartacus is a, a real epic. It's over three hours long. It's one of those movies that most people kind of, sort of know even if they haven't actually seen it