Character subpage for Spartacus: Blood and Sand. See here for the main character index.
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Publius Varinius
Publius Varinius (Brett Tucker)
"Crassus? Yes, I have dined and bathed with him on many occasions. A man large of coin, small of cock."
Publius Varinius is a high-ranking Praetor in the Roman Senate. His power and influence rivals Glaber’s own, causing much friction between the two as Varinius seeks to use Spartacus' rebellion as a way to gain favor for himself in the Republic, and knows that catching Spartacus would bring him glory.
- Chick Magnet: He's regarded as very handsome and has both Ilithyia and Seppia vying for his affections.
- Composite Character: Possibly. Sources differ on whether there were two Roman generals "Publius" and "Varinius", or a single "Publius Varinius".
- Death by Adaptation: Historical records indicate that Varinius survived the war, though "was nearly captured". In the show, he gets killed in the final episode of Vengeance.
- Death by Disfigurement: Gets half his face scorched off by the impact of a flaming catapult stone.
- Harmless Villain: Tall, well-built and looks fetching in armor. Largely ineffectual in a fight though, and it is clear that a great deal of his political influence stems from the fact that Albinius likes him.
- Historical Domain Character: Although in real life, he didn't fight Spartacus until after Glaber's defeat.
- In Love with Your Carnage: He looks very impressed by Ilithyia driving a sword through a captured Gaul and quickly turns his affections from Seppia to her; the former was unable to bring herself to harm the Gaul.
- The Rival: To Glaber. They're both powerful and influential Praetors who seek to defeat Spartacus to further their careers (and they're not willing to work together and share the glory). Later, Varinius starts putting the moves on Glaber's wife, too.
- Ship Sinking: He gives up his pursuit of Iliythia after Albinius is killed, as he was the only one who had the power to dissolve Ilithyia's marriage to Glaber.
- Sixth Ranger: To Glaber's squad.
Seppius
Seppius (Tom Hobbs)
Seppius is a young Roman noble and older brother of Seppia. In Vengeance, he leads a local militia intent on capturing Spartacus.
- Blood from the Mouth: On the night Glaber murders him.
- Brother–Sister Incest: He's implied to be attracted to his sister. He's overprotective of her to the point he seems jealous of other men who show attraction to his sister and doesn't pretend to be sad when Seppia loses Varinius' affections. He's also very touchy-feely with her, even kissing her full on the mouth.
- Chekhov's Gun: His bracelet. Ashur takes it from him when he and his men massacre his household on Glaber's orders. Lucretia later finds the bracelet in Ashur's box of loot and uses it to reveal to Seppia that it was really Glaber who murdered her brother.
- The Unfought: He's set up as a major opponent of Spartacus and his rebels, due to his wealth enabling him to hire soldiers to hunt them down, but ultimately Spartacus never comes to face-to-face with Seppius himself as he's murdered by Glaber, who then pins it on the rebels.
- White Shirt of Death: He's not really wearing a "shirt" as opposed to a white toga when he's killed, but you get the idea.
Seppia
Seppia (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence)
"Is he not handsome and rich...and of means!"
Seppia is the beautiful younger sister of Seppius, whose youthful innocence hides a much more cunning and devious nature.
- Alpha Bitch: Acts very much like the Roman equivalent. She's quite spoilt and insensitive, thinking nothing of making snide comments about other women and can be a bit manipulative (though she's not remotely in the same league as Ilithyia and Lucretia).
- Anti-Villain: She's not really evil, just very self-absorbed. And considering she's up against the likes of Lucretia and Ilithyia...
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She may be a selfish brat, but it's clear she genuinely loves her brother, Seppius. She's utterly distraught when he's murdered and vows revenge on his killer.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Gets horrified when the Roman Elite are stabbing and mutilating a helpless slave For the Evulz.
- Genki Girl: She's quite a cheerful and bubbly young woman, even when dishing out insults.
- Golddigger: Although she herself is wealthy, she seeks to marry a rich man with high social standing. She at first tries to woo Varinius, then moves onto Glaber, although in the latter case she seems to be genuinely fond of him as well.
- Incest Subtext: She and Seppius definitely put out a kinky vibe, especially in the scene where they share a mouth-on-mouth kiss. He's seems more into her, though.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Compared to other Roman noblewomen such as Lucretia and Ilithyia, Seppia is quite tame. She's selfish and careless, certainly, but she isn't nearly as conniving and ruthless as them. She can't bring herself to torture a captured Gaul for fun and looks quite horrified by it, whereas Ilithyia kills him without flinching. The only person Seppia tries to kill is Glaber, after she finds out he had her brother killed and effectively manipulated her into sleeping with him, and she ends up being out-witted and killed by Ilithyia, with Lucretia’s help. Ilithyia and Lucretia have a much more extensive body count between them and have been known to kill or try to kill purely from spite.
- Likes Older Men: Both Varinius and Glaber are more than ten years her senior.
- The Mistress: Becomes this to Glaber after his relationship with Ilithyia goes south. Seppia even seems to hope that Glaber will put his wife aside to marry her instead...until she finds out Glaber had Seppius killed.
- Rich Bitch: She's a rather insensitive, self-absorbed and passive-aggressive Roman noblewoman, who thinks nothing of sleeping with a married man.
- The Rival: To Ilithyia, both as the highest ranking noblewoman in Capua and for Varinius' affections and later Glaber's, too.
- Sex for Solace: She first starts having sex with Glaber out of grief over her brother's murder.
- Slashed Throat: Ilithyia kills her by slashing her throat from behind.
- Underestimating Badassery: She really has no idea what she's dealing with when she antagonizes Ilithyia (and by extension Lucretia, who has appointed herself Iliythia's best friend and protector), not knowing what lengths her rival is willing to go to get what she wants.
- Unwitting Pawn: She ultimately ends up being this to Ilithyia and Lucretia, who manipulate her into making an attempt on Glaber's life so that Ilithyia can kill her abd win back her husband.
- Woman Scorned: Upon learning her lover, Glaber, had Seppius killed, she plots to murder him and would've succeeded if it weren't for Ilithyia.
- You Killed My Father: She seeks revenge on Spartacus for killing her beloved brother. Then she finds out it was actually Glaber, now her lover, that arranged his murder. She attempts to kill Glaber, only to be killed by Ilithyia.
The Egyptian
The Egyptian (Stephen Dunlevy)
The Egyptian is a mysterious character who works as a member of Ashur's Group.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: We almost never hear him speak yet is feared by many around him.
- The Dreaded: But only to the Romans. There's no indication the rebels have even heard of him.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Everyone Calls Him The Egyptian.
- Hero Killer: He slew Oenomaus and Lucius. He nearly killed Crixus as well.
- Implacable Man: Getting hit with arrows multiple times does not slow him down.
- Made of Iron: In a show where blades can easily cleave limbs apart nothing manages to bisect the Egyptian; even being shot with multiple arrows only gives him a moment of pause.
- No Name Given: He's only ever called the Egyptian.
- Psycho for Hire: He only works for the highest bidder.
- The Voiceless: He never speaks onscreen.
Marcus
Marcus (Luke Pegler)
Marcus is the Military Tribune of Gaius Claudius Glaber.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Unfortunately for him, it doesn't work as expected.
- Badass Normal: Gets into not one but two swordfights with Spartacus without being killed instantly.
- Bad Boss: By the end of episode 4, you'd be forgiven for thinking that he wants his men to all get killed.
- Canon Foreigner
- Defiant to the End
- The Dragon: Subverted – turns out he's more of a Mook Lieutenant. He is, however, the only fallen soldier that Glaber actually mourns.
- General Failure: Refuses to change his tactics even after Spartacus slaughters several of his patrols piecemeal.
- Glass Cannon
- Honour Before Reason: After being wounded, he calls out for his last squad of reinforcements. Ashur knows that they won't make any difference, but Marcus seems to think dying to the last man is better than letting Spartacus escape. Ashur doesn't agree, so he kills him.
- Killed Off for Real
- Modern Major General: Has some clever ideas off the battlefield, but proves to be an utterly inept commander. Perhaps Truth in Television, since a lot of Roman commanders were politicians rather than soldiers.
- Undying Loyalty
Salvius
Salvius (Paul Glover)
Salvius is a soldier, and later Tribune, serving under Glaber.
- Butt-Monkey: Him getting beaten up by various characters verges on a Running Joke. Also, despite being an experienced soldier who handles most of the army logistics and demonstrates Undying Loyalty to his commander, he gets sidelined by said commander in favor of a Smug Snake slave.
- Canon Foreigner
- The Chew Toy
- Hero Killer: Kills Mira with a thrown axe, although his intended target was Spartacus. Nevertheless, this still makes him the only Roman to kill a significant member of the rebellion in Vengeance.
- Interrupted Intimacy: You've got to admire his poker face when he walks in on Glaber cheating on his wife with Seppia, to report the kidnapping of said wife no less.
- Killed Off for Real
- Mook Lieutenant: Takes over this role after Marcus is killed.
- Not in the Face!: Happens to him repeatedly, first by Spartacus, then by Ashur, and then by Spartacus again ( fatally) in the finale.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain
- Scars Are Forever: Averted - he bounces back surprisingly well from repeated face-smashings.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: An unusual villainous example, though subverted. Spartacus is fast enough to dodge it, but Mira (who was behind him) isn't.
- Villainous Valour: In Balance, he saves Glaber's life from Spartacus, despite being disarmed at the time. He is also the last man standing in Glaber's defence in the finale.
