16 Powerful Movies that Have a History Lesson to Teach

16. Spartacus

The Film: This film narrates the dramatic tale – mixed with Hollywood drama – of a slave who leads a revolt against Rome, building a revolutionary movement from almost nothing to an army of thousands, only to be beaten and literally crucified in the end. The prelude to the final battle scene is awesome looking when you see all the soldiers lined up. I personally liked that they didn’t overdo the action scenes, which they could easily have done by employing a cast of thousands.

Cutting those scenes down enabled them to cut the film’s length, which is still over three hours. Last but not least, the movie might not be a classic ala 300 or Braveheart, but Kirk Douglas as Spartacus, the leader of the revolt, is simply epic.

The Historical Events: Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator who, along with other notable “gladiators” such as Crixus, Gannicus and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of information about Spartacus, his background and his life beyond the events of the war, while many remaining historical sources appear to contradict each other. However, all sources agree that he was a former gladiator and an accomplished military leader.

There’s a debate about his ethnic background as some historians claim that he was of Greek origin, while others refer to him as a Thracian in a possible reference to the Maedi tribe (modern-day Bulgaria). Decorated historian Plutarch describes Spartacus as “a Greek of Nomadic stock,” while Appian of Alexandria, a Greek historian with Roman citizenship claimed that Spartacus was a Thracian by birth, who had once served as a soldier with the Romans, but had since been a prisoner and sold for a gladiator.

Regardless of his ethnic background, Spartacus’ struggle for freedom has been glorified and admired throughout the centuries and it is often seen as the ultimate fight of oppressed people against tyranny. Spartacus has also been influential to several contemporary revolutionaries, most notably the Spartacist League of Weimar Germany, as well as the far-left Spartacist groups of the 1970s in Europe and America. Che Guevara in particular was a well-known admirer of Spartacus.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“Historical Accuracy in the Film Agora”. Joshua J. Mark, World History.17 February 2014.

Hypatia, scientist of Alexandria, 8th March 415 A.D. Lampi di stampa.

The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture: Mosul to Zirid.

“Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)”. UK: BBC.

Clements, Jonathan (2006). The First Emperor of China.

Bradford, Ernle (2004). Thermopylae: The Battle for the West. Da Capo Press.

Watkins, Thayer. “The Timeline of the Life of Cleopatra. San Jose State University.

“William Wallace (c. 1270-1305)”. Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2010.

Roman eagle found by archaeologists in the City of London. The Guardian 2011.

“The Largest Naval Sea Battles in Military History”. norwich.edu. Retrieved 29 April 2017.

Like Father Not Like Son: Marcus Aurelius & Commodus.