At the opening of the film we learn that Spartacus has been a slave since he was 13 years old. Sold by his parents to work in a salt mine. He’s grown into a strong and defiant man. A Roman, Batiatus arrives at the salt mines after an eleven day journey in order to purchase slaves to be trained as gladiators at his school. Spartacus is one of the slaves he buys. At the school Spartacus learns how to fight as a gladiator. But Batiatus is training the men in order to sell them off. While enslaved in this training center Spartacus is introduced to Varinia, a beautiful slave woman who he is meant to sleep with but he won’t. He’s never been with a woman. He sees her time and again and begins to fall in love with her. Marcellus, a former slave who’s won his freedom as a gladiator now trains the slaves and when he see that Spartacus won’t sleep with her he gives her to another man to have.
Once Spartacus has been trained a high ranking Roman official, Crassus arrives at the training center with his wife, sister and brother in law to witness fights to the death. He pays handsomely for the lives of the men as Batiatus does not normally allow fights at the training center. During his fight Spartacus’ opponent, Draba has his trident to Spartacus’ throat ready to kill him when he turns his weapon on the Romans taking pleasure in their deaths. He throws his trident at them and begins to scale the wall to kill them when he is hit with a spear then finished off by Crassus’ knife. He said he would die before he killed another slave. At this point Varinia and Spartacus are in love, and he learns that Crassus has purchased her to be his slave. When he hears of this he kills Marcellus in the mess hall and the slaves revolt against the guards killing them all. Crassus and his people along with Batiatus escape to Rome. Spartacus is able to convince the slaves to turn their rage towards fighting the Romans and ending the torment of slavery. They begin to ride out from the burning training center and on the road Spartacus finds Varinia who has been left behind by Crassus.
The men, lead by Spartacus begin to go from town to town looting the wealthy for their gold, silver and possessions and setting the slaves free and asking them to join their cause. They become quite a force and soon a messenger from the Cilician army comes offering 500 ships which Spartacus purchases with the riches they’ve taken from their fighting thus far. Spartacus also learns from the man that Rome has sent six garrisons to defeat Spartacus, but they are no match for the newly freed men and women. They kill all but fourteen of the men and burn their tents. They send the leader, Marcus Publius Glabrus back to Rome to tell the Senate to allow them to march to the sea and they will have no fight. But if the do not allow this then Spartacus and his forces will go to war with them. Glabrus is exiled and his backer, Crassus condemns himself to the same fate as he attempts a strategic loyalty to the man he put in charge.
During this time the people led by Spartacus continue to march to the sea. It looks like the Exodus as they walk in droves towards their new life. Once they arrive in Metapontum they are welcomed by the people as conquering heroes. Back in Rome the message has arrived that Spartacus and his forces have killed 19,000 Roman soldiers and the Senate is in desperate need of action. Gracchus who has authority offers Crassus the head of the military. To which Crassus demands no senate oversight which he is granted. He then dispatches his forces to land on the eastern seaboard to cut off the now free force, and to the west an army from Pompeii is now squeezing them in. Spartacus learns that the Cilician forces have reneged on their agreement for ships, and only offer safe passage away from the peninsula but will not provide the ships as they have been paid off by the Romans. Spartacus decides to march towards Rome. He knows it’s what Crassus wants but it’s their only option. They must fight in order to gain their complete freedom.
The day of battle arrives and Spartacus and his forces must face both the Roman legions and the army from Pompeii. By the end of the fighting men, women and children lay dead on the battlefield as far as the eye can see. The rest of the living are taken into chains. Crassus tells them that they will be spared crucifixion if they give up Spartacus. But instead of doing that every free man declares that he is Spartacus. They keep their lips sealed which leads Crassus to crucify 6,000 people along the Appian Way leaving Spartacus and Antoninus, Crassus’ former slave, to be the last to die. Though at this point Crassus does not know the true identity of Spartacus.
While clearing the battlefield Crassus found Varinia and her child, Spartacus’ son and takes her as his slave. He lusts after Varinia as he yearns to be the man that steals her from the great Spartacus to maker her his own. In secret Gracchus and Batiatus plan to steal Varinia away from Crassus which Batiatus carries out. During the same night Spartacus and Antoninus are the last of the force alive outside the gates of Rome. Crassus now knows Spartacus’ identity, and he demands that the two men fight to the death in a gladiator match with the winner being crucified. Spartacus orders Antoninus to let him kill him so that the young man will not have to suffer the excruciating pain of crucifixion. Antoninus does not follow this order and tries to kill Spartacus because of his love for him. But Spartacus overpowers him and runs his sword through his belly. In his final moment he tells Spartacus he loves him like the father he never had and Spartacus returns the love to him as the son that he will never see. Antoninus dies and Spartacus is nailed to a cross. The next morning Batiatus and Varinia with her son exit the Roman gates and are stopped by a centurion to check their papers. On the road Varinia sees Spartacus nailed to his cross. She goes to him to show her husband that his son is free and that he will know him because of who she will tell him his father is. Spartacus is able to die knowing that his dream is fulfilled, that his son will be born free. Varinia gets back into the cart with Batiatus and they leave Rome.
