Lenulus Brutus, the owner of a gladiator school, buys the slave Spartacus. Lenulus has taken on the organization of a spectacle, training his gladiators to fight to the death, to please Marcus Crassus, a corrupt senator.

The night before the match, Spartacus meets Varinia, a young slave girl. Later, when he learns that Varinia has been sold to Crassus, he becomes enraged and organizes a revolt, along with 78 other gladiators. The news spreads quickly and soon Spartacus's army numbers in the hundreds. Thus, the Romans decide to suppress the uprising...