From ChicagoNow.

If you watched last week's episode of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," you probably asked the same question I did: "Did Romans really use fluffers?"

Executive producer Steven S. DeKnight didn't directly answer the question when I asked during a recent conference call, but did explain that the writers consult two PhD candidates at UCLA, Aaron Irving and Jeffery Stevens, to give them details about ancient Rome.

"They were fantastic with their details," DeKnight said. "When we were breaking a story, we'd send them a question and 10 minutes later, we'd get a four-page response because they have all this information at their fingertips ... They were completely invaluable."

One of those details viewers can see in the upcoming episode, called "Legends," which premieres at 9 p.m. Friday on Starz. (I've added 4 video clips and the episode description below.) In once scene, the gladiators wash themselves after a day of training.

"Originally we had written the gladiators are in the bath, and [Irving and Jeffrey] said, 'No, actually they would get oiled up and scraped down,'" DeKnight said. "And I thought, 'Well, that's great. I hadn't seen that, let's do that.'"

Read the full interview.


News submitted by Barbara Davies.