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Quintus Lentulus Batiatus

First appearance	S0E01: "Past Transgressions" S1E01: "The Red Serpent"
Last appearance	S1E13: "Kill Them All S2E02: "A Place In This World" (Flashback)
Profession	Lanista
Race	Roman
Relationships	Titus Batiatus (Father, deceased) Lucretia (Wife, deceased) Marcus Decius Solonius (Former Friend/Rival, deceased) Santos (Body Slave, deceased) Spartacus (Gladiator, deceased) Crixus (Gladiator, deceased) Barca (Gladiator/Bodyguard, deceased) Ashur (Gladiator/Right-Hand Man, deceased) Gannicus (Former Gladiator, deceased) Oenomaus (Gladiator/Doctore/Friend, deceased) Marcus Pelorus (Hospes) Gaia (Friend, deceased) Titus Calavius (Friend/Enemy, deceased) Mercato (Friend, deceased) Tullius (Rival/Enemy, deceased) Vettius (Rival) Ovidius (Rival, deceased)
Status	Deceased (Killed by Spartacus)
Actor/Actress	John Hannah

Quintus Lentulus Batiatus is the lead character in Gods of the Arena and the main antagonist of Blood and Sand. He is a Lanista, a trainer and trader of gladiators. He is head of his family's ludus in Capua, and is Dominus to Spartacus and most of the other gladiators that appear throughout the series. Batiatus is the son of Titus Lentulus Batiatus, and the husband of Lucretia.

AppearanceEdit

Batiatus is a middle aged man of average stature and girth. He is already beginning to show his age in his wrinkles. He can appear both friendly and menacing, depending on his mood. Batiatus' demeanor can change very easily. He normally wears robes befitting of a man of his station, yet always tries to go out and beyond to portray himself as an elite.

PersonalityEdit

His life is consumed with the pursuit of money, power and political status. This psychotic obsession for wealth shows little sign of conscience or mercy. He enjoys flaunting his fortunes and victories in the face of fellow lanista and hated competitor (and once-close friend and confidant) Marcus Decius Solonius, no matter how small his successes may be. His frequent plots and schemes to gain social standing seem to have no limits, including the kidnapping and murder of the magistrate Titus Calavius and the framing of it upon Solonius. Quintus's cunning reveals itself in many forms; for instance, he promised Spartacus the return of his wife, Sura in return for obedience, which he received. Sura was returned to Spartacus eventually, albeit dead by Quintus's choice.

His brutal nature is first revealed after an attempt is made on his life while gambling on Spartacus's endeavors in the pits. He interrogates the man accused of hiring the assassins by personally and brutally beating his skull with a bronze goblet. After revealing he was hired by another house, Quintus slits his throat with a knife merely for personal satisfaction. Without hesitation or pity he orders Barca, one of his most trusted and prized gladiators, to kill the family and child of this house in order to identify his true murderer. Later, after years of faithful service and with little to no proof of disobedience, he orders the death of Barca merely on the rumor and suspicion he did not execute the young child as ordered. Even after discovering proof Barca had been falsely accused, Quintus still justifies his death for merely intending to purchase freedom from slavery with the saved winnings of his victories in the arena, something he promises all his gladiators will earn one day.

It is revealed in Gods of the Arena, that Batiatus is a continuous disappointment to his father. The conflict between the love Batiatus feels for his wife and the need to impress his father, is a key motivator in Batiatus' life, driving him to extreme actions in the course of the drama. The only other thing Quintus seems to care about, apart from his own dreams of wealth and status, is his equally sadistic and manipulative wife, Lucretia.

However, Quintus is not entirely corrupted by his dreams. There is still a man, deep within him, who believes in honor. This man was the best of friends with Solonius and wished to rise far above his father with his own gladiators, only to sink deep into a corrupt world in order to achieve that goal.

Combat ProwessEdit

Batiatus appears to have some skill with a sword, as he was able to defeat one of his own gladiators when they all revolted, though how skilled this particular gladiator was remains unknown.

HistoryEdit

Born and raised in his father's ludus, Quintus's earliest memories are of sitting on his father's knee, watching the games.

While trained to follow in the footsteps of his forebears, Quintus expresses political ambitions early on in his life, ambitions not shared nor approved of by his sire. Further discord ensues when Quintus, during adulthood, marries Lucretia, a woman whom Titus heartily disapproves of and considers beneath their station. During this time he also has a close friendship with Marcus Decius Solonius, another aspiring lanista.

As a young man, he witnesses his father carefully instruct a new recruit, Oenomaus, in what it means to be a gladiator. He would grow up watching this same gladiator and gain a respect for him, even thinking of him as a friend.

At some point in his life, he wanted to join the Roman Legions and gain military experience, but his desire was declined by his father who wanted Quintus to solely become a Lanista when his time came.

Forced to bend to the whims of his father at every turn, Quintus finally begins to shine when Titus suddenly takes ill and takes rest in Sicily, leaving him in charge of the ludus. Able to execute his skills properly for the first time, he begins to advance the ludus upward, and eventually trains and presents his first champion, Gannicus, to great favor. In doing so, however, he clashes frequently with rival lanista Vettius and his friend, Tullius, and a bitter rivalry begins between the three.

Gods of the ArenaEdit

The House of Batiatus struggles to gain any prominent position in the Gladiatorial games ever since Titus Batiatus left to recover in Sicily while his rival Vettius who, despite having inferior gladiators, gains much higher position. Quintus and his wife Lucreita are watching the games accompanied by their then good friend, Solonius. Quintus wishes for his current champion Gannicus to be seen by Tullius and Magistrate Sextus as he knows this will impress them and gain them better position in the games.

The new match is begun informally as to deprive Quintus of the glory of having his man presented. As Vettius' man is introduced Gannicus appears and the crowd goes wild. After a magnificent showing by Gannicus he is ready to kill his opponent. Quintus begs Gannicus to spare him only so Tullius and the Magistrate can witness the victory. Gannicus ignores this and kills the opponent just before they arrive. Quintus clearly disappointed and, knowing the wrest of the games will be sub par, decides to leave with his wife and friend.

As he and Solonius strategies on how to gain position Lucreitia finds her dear friend, Gaia. The men continue to walk and plan. Quintus

soon sees a slave of Tullius, Crixus, fighting. He sees this as an opportunity to recruit a promising gladiator and gain favor with Tullius. He pays fifty denarii to Tullius' employee. Later on Quintus sets up a meeting with Tullius and arranges a fight between Gannicus and Vettius' gladiator Otho. He boasts saying that any of his gladiators could best Vettius' blindfolded. Later that night he asks his former champion who he'd grown up with, Oenomaus, who'd hit a milestone in Gladiator history by being the only man to face Theokoles and live, if Gannicus wad ready to assume mantle as Champion. Oenomaus, visibly distraught, tells Quintus that Gannicus is indeed ready. The next day the fight starts. Before it begins Vettius interjects and states that Gannicus is missin

g the blindfold Quintus had boasted of. Quintus tries to avoid this but Gannicus accepts the challenge and manages to defeat Otho. After the city is ignited by this performance arranges another meeting with Tullius. At this meeting Tullius presses Quintus to sell Gannicus and reveals that Vettius will eventually own his man. When Quintus refuses he is beaten, urinated on, and threatened with permanent exclusion from the games if he does not comply. Quintus is bought back to his Villa and spends a week in recovery. Meanwhile Solonius seeks to give Quintus a gift of wine while Tullius comes upon him and pays for the wine and tells him he has doubled his offer for Gannicus and wishes to present him to a prominent Roman by the name of Quinctilius Varus who edits the games of the Vanalia. Solonius brings Quintus

the news in the wine. Neither are well received. Quintus goes out to the training square and finds a recruit giving the missio. Quintus demonstrates his new ruthless nature by condemning him to the mines. He tells his Doctore to see one of his veteran gladiators, Barca, readied to accompany him on a mission. He also brings along the Syrian recruits Ashur and Dagan. Doctore questions this and convinces him to spare his condemned recruit, Indus. Quintus plans for the recruits to set upon Vettius while Lucretia and Gaia bring Varus to their villa since Gaia knows him. Once this is done Indus is killed by Ashur on commands of Quintus. Once the mission is successful Quintus offers and exhibition. As Gaia suggests Crixus and Gannicus fight Varus questions the use of wood instead of steel. Quintus allows real swords to be used as Doctore gives a dissaproving glare. After all are surprised by Crixus' considerable skill against Gannicus, Gaia brings Varus inside to get high and have Gannicus brought to him in an hour. Quintus then gets into an argument with Doctore over how the ludus is being run. Quintus in a rage strips him of his mantle and tells him to give it up to Oenomaus and brand the Syrians. Batiatus then allows Gannicus to have sex with his dear friend Melitta, who is married to his best friend Oenomaus, all under the orders of Varus. Oenomaus then fights for his life against his admired Doctore while his wife and best friend unwillingly

have sex. As Gannicus and Melitta shamefully enjoy and finish the sex Oenomaus kills Doctore. All three ashamed and disgusted at what they did. After Varus departs granting them the primus Quintus celebrates with a threesome with Lucretia and Gaia. Soon after Gannicus is officially elevated to champion and Oenomaus reluctantly assumes mantle as Doctore. Quintus celebra

tes with another threesome only this time is interrupted by his disapproving father, Titus Lentulus Batiatus. His father reveals that Solonius coaxed him back to the city and that he will have a meeting with Tullius. During the meeting Quintus is kicked out into the streets. He questions Solonius why he would bring his father back but he defends himself saying it was unintentional. Titus comes out and reveals that they are not in the primus and Gannicus will not even appear. Instead Barca will fight Gnaeus, and Auctus will fight Crixus.

After Barca bests Gnaeus, Crixus once again shocks all spectators by defeating Auctus and earns the Mark of the brotherhood. Quintus believes this will impress his father and put him back in retirement but the exact opposite happens. Meanwhile Lucreitia and Gaia come upon a Roman named Petronius who heard from Cossutius and Varus that the house of batiatus offers considerable sexual pleasures. Quintus hears this and plans an orgy while he and his father leave to find a new champion in Neapolis. Titus enjoys the stay but insists they return home. During the orgy Gaia is killed by Tullius. Titus is furious and commands Quintus divorce from Lucreitia and Gaias existence wiped from the house. Quintus has no way of avoiding this while Titus arranges a competition to see who is worthy to remain i

n the house. Lucretia convinces her husband to murder his father while she secretly tries to get pregnant by Crixus. After a long talk and Titus revealing he truly loved his son, Quintus stops his attempt and goes home to Lucretia. Titus made a deal with Oenomaus that if Gannicus defeats Crixus he would stay champion but if not he would he sold to Tullius. With this knowledge Gannicus let's Crixus win so he does not have to live with the pain of thinking of Melitta.

That night Titus falls terribly ill forcing Quintus and Oenomaus to search for medicine in town. Lucretia allows Melitta to be with Gannicus and bring some wine leaving Lucretia alone with Titus. She reveals she had been poisoning him and gives him his final dose while Melitta dies from the wine at the same time. Gannicus brings her corpse up to the villa. All are heartbroken, as Quintus and Oenomaus arrive minutes later to find their loved ones dead from the poison.

Eight days later after the mourning is done Quintus devises a plan for vengeance as he believes Tu

llius is the culprit; the plan would see Batiatus, Gannicus and Oenomaus take their vengeance while Solonius would try to convince Vettius to divide his gladiators among the two lanistas. Soon Tullius arrives to take Gannicus, but then falls into a trap as Batiatus men surround the alleys. Batiatus and Tullius' men brawl in the streets, with Tullius' men dying off one by one. Meanwhile, as Barca is stabbed by Tullius' man, Batiatus from behind stabs him through his mouth, and beats him down as he dies. Eventually, the brawl concludes with Batiatus as the victor, as Vetius lays unconscious and Tullius is taken as hostage. Tullius is soon brought into the new arena to be bried alive, but not before Batiatus and his men repeatedly stab him in the abdomen, leaving Batiatus' rival to die slowly and painfully in the wall of the arena. Batiatus then prepares for tomorrow's games. Solonius, however, betrays Quintus and convinces Vettius to give him all his Gladiators. This b

etrayal is revealed, and a deadly rivalry is formed. As the gladiators finish their qualifying matches right before the primus, Batiatus preps his men with a hearty speech, despite them being outnumbered. At the end of the games of the new arena Gannicus defeats the final gladiator, Caburus, in a gruesome display of skill and will shortly be crowned champion of Capua. Solonius then suggests freedom for Gannicus, infuriating Quintus although the lanista reluctantly agrees. Gannicus soon departs, leaving Crixus champion by default.

Everything is set as it will be for the following five years. Quintus vows to Lucretia that they will leave their own mark on Capua and be justly rewarded, and thus Batiatus begins his sinister journey of blood and sand.

Blood And SandEdit

In the years since his father's death, the ludus has fallen on hard times. Batiatus has garnered a large amount of debt in the city, and has difficulty paying it off, as the drought has forced the price of basic food supplies up, and Solonius' men have become the favored gladiators of Capua.

Batiatus first appears with Lucretia whilst presenting his prime gladiators (Crixus and Barca) for Albinius' games in the arena. He ap

pears in the arena balcony during the fights, including Spartacus' fight against the four of Solonius' gladiators. Sensing trouble between Glaber's craving to see Spartacus die and Albinius' wishes to please the crowd, Batiatus takes Spartacus to be one of his new gladiator trainees, expecting him to die soon.

The new recruits arrive the next day, among them Spartacus, Varro, Marcus, Kerza, Unnamed Trainee and one other. Batiatus gives a speech to the gladiators, as is his tradition.

Batiatus uses the promise of returning Spartacus' wife to him as motivation to fight and train hard

er for the games. In order to drive him over the edge and remove all hope of an escape to civilized life, he stages an attack by bandits and murders her on the day of the promised return to him. She dies in Spartacus' arms. With Spartacus having now lost the only thing left in his former life, Batiatus begins molding Spartacus into his ideal, perfect gladiator. His plan is successful and the house of Batiatus once again enjoys wealth, fame and power. However, this is not enough for the power hungry Batiatus, who wishes to gain higher political power, with hopes of eventually becoming a Magistrate.

Batiatus becomes filled with greater ambition and, after trying to please Calavius to aid in the hopes of gaining political office, rage as Calavius son, Numerius, has Varro killed by Spartacus. This in turn has Calavius talk down to Batiatus about his desires and thus creations a friction of in Batiatus' mind.

With aid of Ashur, Batiatus has Calavius killed and blamed on his rival Solonius. Solonius is then killed by Spartacus in the arena as part of the punishment. What Batiatus does not realize is that his greatest and favorite gladiator has new p

lans outside of the ludus and arena.

After forcing Glaber to patronage in hopes of rising in the noble hierarchy the treatment of the gladiators and slaves becomes unbearable to the point where despair fills the walls. Believing advantage to Spartacus' fame, he sees a fight to the death between Spartacus and Crixus take place for all the nobles of Capua in order to help secure his place.

Following Naevia's banishment, Batiatus and Doctore hold words over the mistreatment of the gladiators lately. As the conversation moves forward Doctore mentions his knowledge of how Barca was not granted freedom and instead was killed by Batiatus. Batiatus marks it was because of Barca's own treachery that forced his hands. He then tells Doctore will be granted freedom upon Batiatus' own elevation that he shall be known as his name, Oenomaus, once more as a Lanista and that he wil have to learn to deal with similar situations in the future..

Things take a dire turn for Batiatus and the Romans as Spartacus and Crixus then lead a revolt. Spartacus nearly kills Batiatus had he not put former Magistrate, Sextus, in his place. The Romans retreat to the villa while the guards outside are slaughtered by the enraged gladiators.

Batiatus tries to calm things down, but the gladiators get inside the villa and the great slaughter begins. Batiatus leads his wife, Numerius, Domitia and Aurelia through the villa and combats a gladiator, who he manages to kill himself.

In the end Batiatus is cornered by all the gladiators. He sees his wife, who has been fatally wounded by Crixus, and tries to go to her but is blocked off by Spartacus. Spartacus then speaks the same words, th

Batiatusdeath — Spartacus kills Batiatus
Added by Olemisscub

e same lies, to Batiatus as he spoke to him when he first arrived at the ludus. Batiatus pauses for a moment and reflects on all the murders he committed or orchestrated. He then charges at Spartacus only to be swiftly beaten. Batiatus yells at how Spartacus and the rest of the gladiators were nothing without him and he gave them the means to accept their fate. Spartacus retorts saying in the end this is what destroyed him. Spartacus then slashes Batiatus' throat and he falls the ground slowly dying while barely clinging to the hands of his dying wife.

This would mark the moment where Spartacus claims war on the Romans for what they have done and was the initial start of the Third Servile War.

VengeanceEdit

While not appearing directly, a younger version of Batiatus is

seen during the flashback sequence of Oenomaus when he first came to the House of Batiatus, while it was under the patronage of Titus. Batiatus' mark also remains somewhat prominent and a recurring theme of loyalty and slavery. He is also frequently mentioned throughout the season by many characters. Furthermore, when Glaber commandeers the Ludus to be used as his headquarters, the statue of Batiatus in the atrium is revealed to have a blood splatter across its neck.

Historical ContextEdit

To read the original historical sources, see Historical Accounts of Spartacus' War

Historically, his name may have been Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus, though there is some uncertainty as to whether that was actually his name. Some prominent modern historians, such as Barry Strauss, subscribe to the belief that the name "Batiatus" is a corrupted form of the cognomen "Vatia". However, all major media presentations of the Spartacus War have used the name "Batiatus." It is also uncertain if he was actually killed during the slave revolt in his ludus. Other than his name (which is still disputed) and the fact that he was a lanista in Capua, next to nothing is known about the historical Batiatus.

List of AppearancesEdit

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

Spartacus: Blood and Sand

Spartacus: Vengeance

202 A Place In This World (Flashback as a child)

TriviaEdit

Batiatus uses profanity more than any other character in the series.
Creator of the series, Steven S. DeKnight, stated that Batiatus was his favorite character to write for.
Batiatus was the fourth main character to be killed.
Following the Massacre at the House of Batiatus, Batiatus' statue in the atrium has a blood splatter across its neck on the same spot where Batiatus himself received his mortal wound from Spartacus.
As Batiatus' middle name is Lentulus, he may be a client of the Gens Cornelia, who have a Patrician family by the name of Lentulus. The House of Batiatus may be descended from freedmen of the House of Lentulus.

QuotesEdit

"You have no mother! You were belched from the cunt of the underworld—that's why I favor you."^[1]
―Batiatus to Oenomaus

"You shit upon honorable agreements and press for fresh demands. Tell me Thracian, how will you pay for her release if found? Hmm? Her transport? Do you shoot magic coins out of your ass? If so, squat and produce!"
―Batiatus to Spartacus

"No child is unstained by the deeds of his father."^[2]
―Batiatus to Ovidius

"At last, the gods remove cock from fucking ass! The House of Batiatus―no the House of Quintus Lentulus Batiatus rises to the fucking heavens!"
―Batiatus

"You consul to suck the cock that pisses on me!"
―Batiatus to Solonius

"That shit fuck beckons me to the city only to spurn me like a thin-waisted whore. Once again the gods spread the cheeks and ram cock in fucking ass!"
―Batiatus

"I am your Dominus! I will have your fucking hearts!"^[3]
―Batiatus to Gladiators

"You were nothing before me. I gave you everything! I gave you the means to accept your fate!"^[3]
―Batiatus to Spartacus. Last Words

"Between us, we have the greatest gladiators in Capua: Barca, Arkadios, Gannicus; men forged into something beyond their worth, beyond anything that smug little piss Vettius could ever hope to offer."
―Batiatus to Solonius

"What the gods havent pissed on me enough for 1 day...no lets add shit to the piss, lets pour it in his mouth"
―Batiatus

"Do I appear a fucking arrow? My nose pointing towards your wife's dripping thighs?"
―Batiatus to Spartacus