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Vettius
Vettius Gods
First appearance S0E01: Past Transgressions
Last appearance S0E06: The Bitter End
Profession Lanista (Retired)
Race Roman
Relationships Tullius (Ally/Friend, deceased)
Unnamed Murmillo (Gladiator, deceased)
Otho (Gladiator, deceased)
Lysimachus (Former Gladiator, deceased)
Tasgetius (Former Gladiator, deceased)
Synetus (Former Gladiator, deceased)
Caburus (Former Gladiator, deceased)
Quintus Lentulus Batiatus (Rival/Enemy, deceased)
Marcus Decius Solonius (Rival/Enemy, deceased)
Status Unknown (presumed active or deceased)
Actor/Actress Gareth Williams

Vettius is a young lanista in Capua. He appears exclusively as the secondary antagonist of the prequel Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

Appearance[]

Vettius is young, likely in his twenties. He is quite tall and lanky, has short blond hair, and often has a smug look on his face.

Personality[]

A famous and powerful lanista in Capua despite his youth, Vettius is self-absorbed and arrogant. His confidence largely comes from the patronage of his powerful ally Tullius, rather than the skill of his gladiators.

Gods of the Arena[]

At the start of Past Transgressions, Vettius is a rival lanista to both Batiatus and Solonius.

After a blindfolded Gannicus bests his best man, Otho, in a wager, Vettius and Batiatus begin an intense rivalry.

Tullius' patronage of Vettius' ludus leads to an assault on Batiatus, killing the latter's body guard and beating him nearly to death after Batiatus refuses to sell Gannicus, his best gladiator, to Vettius.

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Vettius alongside Tullius

Eventually, Batiatus returns the favor when he orders Ashur, Dagan and Indus to assault Vettius in the same manner, in order to send a message. Indus beats him severely, and Dagan urinates on him as Tullius did to Batiatus. Vettius knows this was by Batiatus, but holds no proof.

After Tullius is killed by Batiatus, Vettius is blackmailed by Solonius into selling him all of his gladiators (including his new top fighter, Caburus), resulting in an early retirement as a lanista and a prosperous career for Solonius.

Ordered by Solonius to leave Capua and never return, his current whereabouts and fate are as of yet unknown. Though, he claimed to be following Tullius to Antioch in Syria on business.

Trivia[]

  • Gareth Williams, the actor who plays Vettius is 186cm (6'1") tall.
  • Vettius is actually not from Capua, having been born in Nola.
  • Vettius is one of the few antagonists in the series to have survived.
  • As Vettius does not appear in Vengeance after Solonius and Batiatus's deaths, his fate remains unknown.
  • In Revelations, Vettius is indirectly mentioned when Batiatus says to Solonius that many people underestimated him and are deceased, possibly suggesting that Vettius is deceased during his exile or that Batiatus ordered his death.
  • Vettius shares his name with the leader of a previous slave revolt in Capua that occurred in 104 BC. Titus Minucius Vettius was a young nobleman who fell in love with a slave girl and purchased her for a huge sum. When he was unable to actually pay such a large amount, he bought weapons and shields and armed his own slaves and began raiding the Italian countryside. He was eventually betrayed by one of his own officers and subsequently committed suicide.
  • Vettius may be a member of the Gens Vettia, a Plebeian clan whom otherwise claimed descent from Tatius, King of the Sabines, who was first an opponent and later an ally to Romulus, Rome's founder and king.
  • Vettius is a client of Tullius. During the Roman republic, much of society functioned on the basis of patronage, in which a wealthy supporter would provide his clients with money, knowledge of laws, and legal advice in exchange for a good or service. Clients could come from many walks of life, and it it makes sense that a young man like Vettius would require the wealth and status of Tullius' patronage to advance.

Quotes[]

"Words fall from your mouth like shit from ass!"

"Listen how the rooster crows.."

Lucretia about Vettius: "How can Tullius and the magistrate favor a boy from Nola over one of Capua's favored sons?"

References[]

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