# Spartacus: War of the Damned
**Spartacus: War of the Damned** is the final season of the Starz television series *Spartacus*, an action-drama retelling of the slave rebellion led by the gladiator [Spartacus](https://www.edgepedia.org/spartacus) against the [Roman Republic](https://www.edgepedia.org/roman-republic). It premiered on Friday, January 25, 2013, at 9/8c, and was announced by the network as the final installment of the franchise that began with *Spartacus: Blood and Sand* in 2010.[1](https://www.tvguide.com/news/spartacus-war-damned-premiere-1055601/) Counting the prequel miniseries *Spartacus: Gods of the Arena* (2011), it is the fourth installment and the third regular season, following *Spartacus: Vengeance* (2012).[2](https://spartacus.fandom.com/wiki/Spartacus%3A_War_of_the_Damned) • [3](https://starztca.starz.com/announcements/spartacus-house-of-ashur-casting-release)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and premiere | Starz, Friday January 25, 2013, 9/8c; TV-MA rating[1](https://www.tvguide.com/news/spartacus-war-damned-premiere-1055601/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/spartacus/s04/cast-and-crew) |
| Position in franchise | Fourth installment, third regular season, after *Blood and Sand* (2010), *Gods of the Arena* (2011), and *Vengeance* (2012)[2](https://spartacus.fandom.com/wiki/Spartacus%3A_War_of_the_Damned) • [3](https://starztca.starz.com/announcements/spartacus-house-of-ashur-casting-release) |
| Story | Mass warfare between the rebel army of thousands under Spartacus and the Roman forces led by Marcus Licinius Crassus[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/feb/12/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-finale) • [6](https://camws.org/meeting/2013/files/panels/006.Panel.ScreeningANewSpartacus.pdf) |
| Visual effects | About 4,350 VFX shots across the season, 925 of them in the final episode[7](https://digitalmediaworld.tv/in-depth/spartacus) |
| Critical score | 69% on Rotten Tomatoes for the season[8](https://as.com/meristation/series/buenas-noticias-para-los-fans-de-spartacus-el-nuevo-spin-off-arrasa-entre-los-criticos-aunque-hay-truco-f202512-n/) |
| Lead actor | Liam McIntyre as Spartacus, who carried the role from *Vengeance* onward[9](https://www.avforums.com/reviews/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-movie-review.7780/) |
## Place in the franchise
Starz's *Spartacus* ran from 2010 to 2013 as four chapters: *Blood and Sand* (2010), the prequel *Gods of the Arena* (2011), *Vengeance* (2012), and *War of the Damned* (2013).[3](https://starztca.starz.com/announcements/spartacus-house-of-ashur-casting-release) The series was created, written, and executive produced by [Steven S. DeKnight](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-s-deknight), who later served as showrunner of the 2025 spinoff *Spartacus: House of Ashur*.[3](https://starztca.starz.com/announcements/spartacus-house-of-ashur-casting-release) The whole series totals 39 episodes.[10](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/netflix/netflix-just-added-this-epic-gladiator-series-you-can-binge-watch-all-39-episodes-now)
Each season covered a different phase of the title character's story. *Blood and Sand* followed Spartacus from enslaved Thracian soldier to gladiator to leader of a small rebellion; *Vengeance* charted his growth as a tactician leading guerrilla warfare; *War of the Damned* moved to open mass warfare, with the rebellion under Spartacus's command numbering in the thousands.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/feb/12/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-finale) The season also started from a clean slate of antagonists: the end of *Vengeance* had killed off Mira, Oenomaus, Ashur, Ilithyia, Lucretia, and Glaber, making room for new villains.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/feb/12/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-finale)
## Story and characters
The season dramatizes the decisive conflict between the rebel army and the Roman military led by [Marcus Licinius Crassus](https://www.edgepedia.org/marcus-licinius-crassus), played by Simon Merrells.[6](https://camws.org/meeting/2013/files/panels/006.Panel.ScreeningANewSpartacus.pdf) • [11](https://oracleoffilm.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-what-did-we-think/) [Julius Caesar](https://www.edgepedia.org/julius-caesar) also appears among the Roman characters, played by [Todd Lasance](https://www.edgepedia.org/todd-lasance).[11](https://oracleoffilm.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-what-did-we-think/) The Guardian noted that the introduction of Crassus, new to all viewers, made the season more accessible to audiences who had not watched the earlier chapters.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/feb/12/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-finale)
**The rebel side.** [Liam McIntyre](https://www.edgepedia.org/liam-mcintyre) played Spartacus, having taken over the role after [Andy Whitfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-whitfield)'s illness; the AVForums review credited McIntyre with continuing the standards set by Whitfield while carrying the ideals of the character.[9](https://www.avforums.com/reviews/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-movie-review.7780/) [Manu Bennett](https://www.edgepedia.org/manu-bennett) continued as Crixus, the former gladiator turned rebel, whose love story with Naevia had run through all the show's seasons.[12](https://www.wired.com/2013/01/women-of-spartacus-war-of-the-damned/) The A.V. Club's episode review observed that the season belonged in large part to Dustin Clare's Gannicus, whose earlier affectations melted away over the course of the season.[13](https://www.avclub.com/spartacus-mors-indecepta-1798176133)
**The women of the season.** WIRED highlighted three central female characters: Laeta (Anna Hutchison), a wealthy Roman woman suddenly widowed and fighting to survive in a city Spartacus eyes as the solution to his supply problems; Saxa ([Ellen Hollman](https://www.edgepedia.org/ellen-hollman)), a fierce German warrior who will match any man in love or war; and Naevia ([Cynthia Addai-Robinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/cynthia-addai-robinson)), the longest-surviving female character in the series.[12](https://www.wired.com/2013/01/women-of-spartacus-war-of-the-damned/) The cast trained in a four-week gladiator camp of five days a week, four hours a day, before shooting; Hollman used no stunt double and said the production left her with a four-inch scar on her quad.[12](https://www.wired.com/2013/01/women-of-spartacus-war-of-the-damned/)
## Production and visual effects
*War of the Damned* was the most VFX-heavy season of the series, incorporating about 4,350 visual effects shots, 925 of which were packed into the final climactic episode.[7](https://digitalmediaworld.tv/in-depth/spartacus) The show's look, with comic-book aesthetics and intense colors producing at times exaggerated, fantastical effects, drew deliberate comparison to [Zack Snyder](https://www.edgepedia.org/zack-snyder)'s film *300*, and the franchise's makers have acknowledged a creative debt to it.[14](https://as.com/meristation/series/spartacus-nunca-habria-existido-de-no-ser-por-una-de-las-peliculas-mas-queridas-de-zack-snyder-tenemos-una-deuda-creativa-con-ellos-f202512-n/) Composer Joseph LoDuca scored all seasons of the series, and the AVForums review identified his work on this final chapter as his best for the show.[9](https://www.avforums.com/reviews/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-movie-review.7780/)
## Historical basis
The season's disclaimer, like those of the earlier seasons, describes the show as a historical portrayal of ancient Roman society containing graphic violence and adult content.[15](https://ir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/28497/thesis_steyn_mc.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1) The historical scaffolding is the [Third Servile War](https://www.edgepedia.org/third-servile-war) of 73–71 BC, in which Spartacus was one of the key leaders of the slave army.[16](https://oercollective.caul.edu.au/burning-issues-classics/part/fidelity-in-hollywood-the-importance-of-accuracy-when-adapting-ancient-sources-into-films/) Ancient writers provide a clear but skeletal narrative: the rebels scored victories against inexperienced Roman legions until 71 BC, when they were decisively defeated by better-trained and more experienced soldiers under Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Spartacus himself was killed.[17](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2013/05/09/pinning-down-spartacus/) Because the ancient record is thin, adaptations fill the gaps with invention. The classicist Mary Beard, professor of classics at the [University of Cambridge](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-cambridge), notes that the familiar modern image of Spartacus as a freedom fighter dates largely from the radical literary atmosphere of the 1760s onward rather than from antiquity, when Roman writers were generally damning about the instigator of a slave rebellion.[17](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2013/05/09/pinning-down-spartacus/)
## Reception and legacy
On Rotten Tomatoes the season holds a 69% critics score, above the first season's 52%; among the seasons with sufficient reviews, only the prequel's 73% is higher, and *Vengeance* has too few reviews to be scored.[8](https://as.com/meristation/series/buenas-noticias-para-los-fans-de-spartacus-el-nuevo-spin-off-arrasa-entre-los-criticos-aunque-hay-truco-f202512-n/) Rotten Tomatoes' critics' consensus material states that the series finale justifies the subtitle *War of the Damned* with a truly epic clash.[18](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/spartacus/s04) Reviewers on the same page also noted that the season removed frustrating elements of earlier chapters while keeping the brutal action, betrayals, and political intrigue.[18](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/spartacus/s04) Common criticisms were the reduced intimacy after the move away from the gladiator school setting and the invented subplot involving Caesar, who had no historical connection to Spartacus's revolt.[11](https://oracleoffilm.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-what-did-we-think/)
The season ended the original run, but the franchise continued. In 2025 Starz premiered *Spartacus: House of Ashur*, a what-if spinoff from DeKnight asking what would have happened had Ashur, decapitated on [Mount Vesuvius](https://www.edgepedia.org/mount-vesuvius) at the end of *Vengeance*, survived and been rewarded with Batiatus's gladiator school for helping the Romans end the rebellion.[3](https://starztca.starz.com/announcements/spartacus-house-of-ashur-casting-release)
## References
1. [Spartacus: War of the Damned Premiere Date Revealed, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/news/spartacus-war-damned-premiere-1055601/)
2. [Spartacus: War of the Damned, Spartacus Wiki (Fandom)](https://spartacus.fandom.com/wiki/Spartacus%3A_War_of_the_Damned)
3. [STARZ Casts Eight New Roles in “Spartacus: House of Ashur”, Starz press release](https://starztca.starz.com/announcements/spartacus-house-of-ashur-casting-release)
4. [Spartacus: War of the Damned – Cast and Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/spartacus/s04/cast-and-crew)
5. [Spartacus: War of the Damned – will it be a bloody, brilliant finale?, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/feb/12/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-finale)
6. [Screening a New Spartacus: Tradition and Originality in STARZ Spartacus (2010–13), CAMWS](https://camws.org/meeting/2013/files/panels/006.Panel.ScreeningANewSpartacus.pdf)
7. [SPARTACUS, Digital Media World](https://digitalmediaworld.tv/in-depth/spartacus)
8. [Buenas noticias para los fans de 'Spartacus', MeriStation (AS)](https://as.com/meristation/series/buenas-noticias-para-los-fans-de-spartacus-el-nuevo-spin-off-arrasa-entre-los-criticos-aunque-hay-truco-f202512-n/)
9. [Spartacus: War of the Damned Movie Review, AVForums](https://www.avforums.com/reviews/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-movie-review.7780/)
10. [Netflix just added this epic gladiator series, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/netflix/netflix-just-added-this-epic-gladiator-series-you-can-binge-watch-all-39-episodes-now)
11. [Spartacus – War of the Damned: What Did We Think, Oracle of Film](https://oracleoffilm.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-what-did-we-think/)
12. [The Women of Spartacus: War of the Damned, WIRED](https://www.wired.com/2013/01/women-of-spartacus-war-of-the-damned/)
13. [Spartacus: “Mors Indecepta”, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/spartacus-mors-indecepta-1798176133)
14. ['Spartacus' nunca habría existido de no ser por una de las películas más queridas de Zack Snyder, MeriStation (AS)](https://as.com/meristation/series/spartacus-nunca-habria-existido-de-no-ser-por-una-de-las-peliculas-mas-queridas-de-zack-snyder-tenemos-una-deuda-creativa-con-ellos-f202512-n/)
15. [The Further Spartacus Tradition, University of South Africa thesis](https://ir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/28497/thesis_steyn_mc.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
16. [Fidelity in Hollywood: The importance of accuracy when adapting ancient sources into films, Burning Issues in Classics](https://oercollective.caul.edu.au/burning-issues-classics/part/fidelity-in-hollywood-the-importance-of-accuracy-when-adapting-ancient-sources-into-films/)
17. [Pinning Down Spartacus, by Mary Beard, The New York Review of Books](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2013/05/09/pinning-down-spartacus/)
18. [Spartacus: War of the Damned, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/spartacus/s04)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Seasons, episodes, and installments › Screen seasons › Science fiction, fantasy, and horror series seasons*
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