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Nearly everything that we know about the life of Spartacus comes from Roman histories. According to the Roman historian Appian, Spartacus was a Thracian, a war-like group of people that lived in the Balkans. <ref> Appian, <i>The Civil Wars</i> (Penguin Classics; New Ed edition, London, 1996), p. 12</ref> In the movie, Kirk Douglas character is also a Thracian. However, the movie differs from the historical sources of the early life of Spartacus. In the 1960 picture, Spartacus was born a slave and was descended from a family of slaves. Kirk Douglas's character even states that his grandfather was himself a slave.
He is introduced in the movie working in a quarry in North Africa. IN In reality, Spartacus had been was born free, possibly as a member of the Tharician elite and served as a soldier in the Roman army. Most likely Spartacus fell our favor the Romans and was punished by being sold into slavery. In the picture, he is shown as being bought by Batiatus, the owner of a gladiatorial school. This was historically accurate, but it seems likely that Batitatus bought Spartacus at a slave market. In general, the movie’s account of the early years of Spartacus is inaccurate.
====Spartacus life as a gladiator====
