Spartacus: Film and History

Front Cover
Martin M. Winkler
John Wiley & Sons, 2008 M04 15 - 294 pages
This is the first book systematically to analyze Kirk Douglas’ and Stanley Kubrick’s depiction of the slave revolt led by Spartacus from different historical, political, and cinematic perspectives.
  • Examines the film’s use of ancient sources, the ancient historical contexts, the political significance of the film, the history of its censorship and restoration, and its place in film history.
  • Includes the most important passages from ancient authors’ reports of the slave revolt in translation.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
1 Who Killed the Legend of Spartacus? Production Censorship and Reconstruction of Stanley Kubricks Epic Film
14
2 Dalton Trumbo vs Stanley Kubrick The Historical Meaning of Spartacus
56
3 Spartacus Exodus and Dalton Trumbo Managing Ideologies of War
65
4 Spartacus History and Histrionics
87
5 Spartacus Rebel Against Rome
112
6 Training + Tactics Roman Battle Success
124
7 The Character of Marcus Licinius Crassus
128
8 Roman Slavery and the Class Divide Why Spartacus Lost
144
9 The Holy Cause of Freedom American Ideals in Spartacus
154
10 Spartacus and the Stoic Ideal of Death
189
11 Culturally Significant and Not Just Simple Entertainment History and the Marketing of Spartacus
198
The Principal Ancient Sources on Spartacus
233
Bibliography
248
Index
260
Copyright

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About the author (2008)

Martin M. Winkler is Professor of Classics at George Mason University. Most recently he has edited the essay collections Troy: From Homer’s Iliad to Hollywood Epic (Blackwell, 2006), Gladiator: Film and History (Blackwell, 2004), and Classical Myth and Culture in the Cinema (2001).

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