Changes

Kubrick’s movie pays a great deal of attention to Spartacus relationship with his unofficial wife Varina who is also a slave at the Gladiatorial School owned by Batiatus. In the movie, Spartacus falls in love with her and. later she flees with him from their master Batiatus and becomes his companion. Spartacus did have a wife, but we do not know her name, she was a different figure from the character portrayed by Jean Simmons. Spartacus wife was also a Thracian and Plutarch claims that she was enslaved with him. She was a prophet and claimed to be able to see into the future and probably played a very important role in the army of ex-slaves <ref> Arrian, iv</ref>. As a seer, she would have been consulted by the leadership of the slave rebellion, such as on the best strategies to adopt and what would be the outcome of a battle. It also seems likely that Spartacus wife had a following among the rank and file and that she was one of the key players in the rebellion. The wife of Spartacus was a much more complex and important figure than the character portrayed in the movie. [[File: 1024px-Detail of Gladiator mosaic, a Thraex (left) fighting a Murmillo (right), Römerhalle, Bad Kreuznach, Germany (8196070427).jpg|200px|thumb|left|Two gladiators from a mosaic]]