Spartacus (film) eclipse him. Gracchus, having seen Rome fall into tyranny, commits suicide. Before doing so, he bribes his friend Batiatus to rescue Spartacus's family from Crassus and carry them away to freedom. On the way out of Rome, the group passes under Spartacus's cross. Varinia is able to comfort him in his dying moments by showing him his little son, who will grow up free and knowing who his father was. The development of "Spartacus" was partly instigated by Kirk Douglas's failure to win the title role in William Wyler's "Ben-Hur". Douglas had worked with Wyler before on "Detective Story", and
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Movie Network, on Sky1 in the United Kingdom and on FX in Latin America. Slaves Romans <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> The opportunity to produce "Gods of the Arena" emerged when the second season of "Spartacus" was halted while lead actor Andy Whitfield battled Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Series creator and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight expanded a single flashback episode for the second season into a six-part mini-series. Production for "Gods of the Arena" began in New Zealand in August 2010. Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a television miniseries broadcast by American cable TV Starz, as a prequel to