After having earned the mark of the brotherhood, Spartacus begins training as a gladiator.Meanwhile, the Vulcanalia, a festival to ward of wildfires, is approaching and Batatius is sending 20 of his men to the games..
Tropes:
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Crixus effortlessly beats Spartacus on their match on the Vulcanalia.
- Bad Boss: Lucretia forces Varro to engage in a sex show just to keep Ilithyia and her guests entertained.
- Fanservice: The party Batiatus that hosts before the Vulcanalia is filled with this. In order to keep his guests entertained, most of the slaves are scantily clad. When Ilithyia starts to bore of this Lucretia hastily arranges for even more fanservice to keep her and the other guests entertained. Which is....
- Varro's sex show. A lot of emphasis is placed on Varro's muscular naked body, which is glistening with sweat during his "performance". Ilithyia, who until that point was bored throughout the entire evening, is thrilled watching it.
- Lack of Empathy: Ilithyia again demonstrates she doesnt care about people other than how they can entertain or please her. While watching Varro's "performance", she doesn't care that he obviously doesn't want to do it, and even adds to his humiliation by proceeding to caress his chest. When Varro completes the performance, she immediately demands, "Make him do it again!"
- Pet the Dog: After Spartacus loses to Crixus and the crowd demands his death, Batiatus spares his life. This is probably the kindest thing Batiatus does throughout the series as he defies the will of the crowd and displeases the magistrate to show Spartacus mercy. Mitigated by Batiatus justifying it to the magistrate citing the cost of Spartacus' purchase, and Batiatus next sending Spartacus to the horrors of the Pits to make back the money he needs.
