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: Vengeance January 2011, it was announced that Australian film and TV actor Liam McIntyre had been selected to replace Whitfield. On 26 February 2011 interview with "Entertainment Weekly", DeKnight revealed that the second season was set to air "the end of January" 2012. Additionally, he revealed that Lesley-Ann Brandt, the actress who portrayed the slave Naevia, would also not be able to return for season 2 due to the delay in production. On 1 August 2011, Starz released a trailer indicating the new series would premiere in January 2012. On November 7, 2011, Starz announced that the "Spartacus" premiere date was