Lentulus Batiatus

Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus[1] (or, possibly, Vatia[2]) was the Roman owner of a gladiatorial school in Capua. It was from this school that, in 73 BC, the Thracian slave Spartacus and about 70 to 78 followers escaped. The break-out led to the slave rebellion known as the Third Servile War (73–71 BC).[3]

Identity and origins

Shackleton Bailey noted that the name ('Batiatus'), as recorded by the ancient historians, could be a corrupted form of the cognomen Vatia. Cornelius Lentulus Vatia would then have been either a Servilius Vatia by birth adopted into the Cornelii Lentuli or else a Cornelius Lentulus by birth adopted into the Servilii Vatiae.[2]

Portrayal in media

Batiatus was played by Peter Ustinov in Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film, Spartacus, for which Ustinov won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[4]

Ian McNeice played Batiatus in the 2004 television adaptation Spartacus.[5]

John Hannah played Batiatus (here given the first name Quintus) in the 2010 Starz television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand and the 2011 Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.[6]

References
  1. McGushin, Patrick (1991) Sallust: The Histories, p.113
  2. Shackleton Bailey, David. R. (1991) Two Studies in Roman Nomenclature, p.73
  3. Plutarch, Life of Crassus, 8
  4. IMDb, Peter Ustinov, Awards
  5. IMDb, Spartacus (TV 2004)
  6. Starz. "John Hannah on Spartacus: Blood and Sand". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
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