Spartacus Irony

Spartacus Irony

Valuing Love

Spartacus is given Varinia to sleep with, but he has never been with a woman and chooses not to sleep with her because he knows he can care for her. The irony of him not sleeping with her is that he must endure the cruelty of Marcellus passing Varinia off to another gladiator to sleep with. Still he sticks to his morals.

Pleasure

Crassus purchases four gladiators to fight to-the-death as he and his companions seek the pleasure of this cruel sport. And the price he pays for the men would be a fortune to any peasant. Ironically he easily loses interest in the fights as during a match he simply stops watching to speak with Marcus. This shows that his need for pleasure will never fill whatever void he's seeking to fill.

Garrison

Marcus Publius Glabrus is appointed Garrison by Crassus while at the gladiator training facility in order to protect Rome, and serve Crassus' political interests. Ironically, Marcus is sent out to fight Spartacus and his band of slaves as soon as he returns to the capital by Gracchus. And in so doing he is defeated in battle and exiled for his loss.

Death

Death for a free man means that they will lose the pleasure of life. Ironically, death for a slave mean that they will be set free from the pain of life that bores down on them every day.

Passage to Freedom

Spartacus and his forces are offered safe passage from the Cilicians to their homeland as long as they leave Italy and stop fighting. The irony is that though they are offered freedom by leaving, Spartacus knows that the only way to have true freedom is to fight and earn it in bloodshed. He knows that he must sacrifice safety and security in order to have freedom. Knowing that it will cost him his life, but ignite a fire in those that come after him to always oppose what is wrong.

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