AUSXIP The House of Batiatus
Spartacus Mini-Series

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        30 September 2010

Gods of the Arena Promo Pics and Poster Confirmation


Image We finally get some promo pics from Gods of the Arena!

Firstly, the poster on the left is real and it was confirmed by Steven DeKnight on his Facebook page: "For those of you wondering, yes, this is real. That's the amazing Jaime Murray in the background, and Dustin Clare looking extra manly in his gladiator gear." Many thanks to Luna and Roland for the news.

Next we have some gorgeous promo pics of Gannicus, Oenomaus and Batiatus.

The House of Batiatus has towered above the city of Capua for many years. "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" will explore its deadly history before the arrival of Spartacus, and the death he carried with him. It's a time of transition as Quintus Lentulus Batiatus takes the reins of his father's stable of gladiators, with ambitions to elevate the house beyond all former glories. With his beautiful, scheming wife Lucretia at his side, he will stop at nothing to see his name forever carved into history. Batiatus stakes his fortunes on the roguish gladiator Gannicus, a man whose skill with a sword is surpassed only by his appetite to live every day as if it were his last. But there are those who would see Batiatus and his champion destroyed. Loyalties will be tested, lives shattered, and battles waged in this thrilling prequel to "Spartacus: Blood and Sand."

 

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Gannicus (Dustin Clare) - click on the image for the larger scan

A true physical specimen, fearless in the arena and possessed of a thirst for the fleeting pleasures of life, Gannicus is the gladiator a girl’s mother doesn’t want her to bring home. Newly promoted to the top position at Batiatus’s ludus, Gannicus is best friend to Oenomaus and his wife Melitta, forming an unlikely triangle of loyal friendship



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Oenomaus (Peter Mensah) - click on the image to view larger scan

Oenomaus is, we already know as Doctore but at this time he is not yet the rigid disciplinarian who will come to reign over the ludus as the gladiator trainer. He is not far removed from the status of top gladiator at the House of Batiatus, having only recently survived his fight with the legendary Theokoles. He longs to return to the sands of the arena and reclimb the peak he feels is rightfully his, but he is yet a slave like so many others and bound to the notions of his masters. He finds himself caught in the middle of much turmoil, his status seized between the generational conflict within the house, between old loyalties and new responsibilities.


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Quintus Batiatus (John Hannah) - click on the image to view larger scan

Batiatus is one in a long line of gladiator owners in his family, and at the time of the prequel, with his father away attempting to regain his health, has newly come to inhabit the role. Bold and impulsive where his father is restrained and conventional, Batiatus wishes to seize more for himself, to rise beyond his father’s station. With his wife Lucretia ever by his side fueling his ambitions, Batiatus schemes beyond his reach.

Source

News submitted by Barbara Davies