Spartacus was directed by Stanley Kubrick and came out in 1960. This movie is about a slave in the ancient Roman Republic that starts a revolt against the republic and frees slaves as he goes. This movie is realistic and gritty and shows how slaves would have been treated and lived back in the Roman Republic. The architecture of the Roman noble buildings was very clean and a stark contrast to how the slaves lived in the dirt and filth. The senate building was the fanciest and completely made from marble. The armor and clothes were very accurate for the time the legionaries wore heavy metal armor made from iron. Most of the slaves wore rags and leather armor. The culture of the Roman Republic is shown very well in the capital city of Rome in the bathhouses and the city streets which are shown to be very prosperous. The music was one of the best parts of the entire movie. It made you feel the emotions of the actors better and gave moments tension and stress as well as all types of other emotions.
The major piece of culture that the movie Spartacus that is shown is the life of a slave and how many slaves the Romans uses to build their cities. The Gladiators were forced to fight each other in the small wooden arenas, and they trained and to fight for the amusement of the rich. Every slave Spartacus came upon he freed, and they joined his army because they believed in his leadership. The clothes the slaves wore were rags and leather armor. Spartacus taught them how to fight and he led them against the armies of Rome using spears and shields that the slaves made themselves or won when they defeated the legions.
In stark contrast to the slaves, the senators led lives of opulence and greed. They use gold and marble in every building they were in. The bathhouses were made almost completely out of marble with grand designs in the walls and pillars. The walls of their homes had paintings of gods and goddesses on them and marble statues and busts everywhere. The armor the generals wore were gold plated armor and red capes and gold-plated helmets. On the armor were great feats of battle and their ancestors and previous rulers. Each soldier had a set of heavy iron armor and a wooden and metal shield and a brown cape. This movie gave a very accurate representation of the respective sides with the Soldiers that had battle tactics and proper armor and training, and the slaves turned into Soldiers and trained by Spartacus.
The music composed for this movie is by Alex North. This music is the best part of the movie and it makes the scenes so much more emotional. If there was no music the movie would be so lifeless and emotionless. The best part of the movie that music effects is when Spartacus is tied up and Crassus the new emperor confronts Spartacus and Crassus punches Spartacus and Spartacus in return spits in the face of the new Emperor and a big swell of music happens at the same time. This impacts the overall feeling in the movie because you can really feel the life and death situation. The greatest part of the entire movie is the battle between the slaves and the Roman Legions, and the music portrays the battle as a climactic final battle that will result in victory or death.
The movie shows all these aspects including the culture, grand designs of the building, the slave’s lives and the Roman Legion armor and the Generals. This movie does an amazing job of portraying the stark contrast of the senator’s lives compared to the lives of the slaves. The senators had wealth and slaves had nothing this was shown off very well in the movie because anyone that was freed from being a slave wanted to join the slave army immediately. The music is the most amazing part of this movie and without it, the movie would not feel as great as it does. I think this is one of the best movies based on the Ancient Romans before they became completely dominant over a large area. I would highly recommend anyone who likes Roman history or any history to watch this movie and they will not be disappointed with the dedication the actors and directors put into this movie.
