Spartacus

Spartacus International Gay Guide
$32.99
Theoretically you can find everything on the Internet but getting it all in a single volume for a moderate price is so much easier. This is the most complete guide for a gay tourist - not only gives you details of your probable favourite spots in places you have never visited before but offers a few words of warning and introduction.
Still one comment is necessary - the more info you can find here about local attitudes towards gay men and anti-gay laws (in European terms: the further east you plan to venture), the less likely it is that addresses of clubs are still valid. Some Internet search before leaving home may be quite advisable if you don't want to find a grocery store in a place advertised as a gay watering hole ;)

Khachaturian - Spartacus / Vasiliev, Bessmertnova, Bolshoi Ballet
$29.95
I actually thought I was buying a version of this with Irek Mukamedov but I am glad I got to see this one.

Of, course, if it is the Bolshoi, it is wonderful. This is no exception. What makes this importatn is that it is an older film of an earlier cast preforming this great work. One of the things I don't care for (and to me this marks it as an older work) was the use of double expsure in the filming to create the illusion of more cast. I _hate_ double exposure, especially in dance where I want/need to see the full body of the dancers. This is truly aweful to me and it keeps this work from getting five stars.

The part that makes this enjoyable for me is to see the changes in the demands of the technique over time. The cast at this time did not have the extension of the later cast and this was most noticible (Noticable? - sorry. I'm a poor speller. Please forgive me.) in the jumps by the men. Although the dance was wonderful, the men in this version simply didn't have the extension of the men in the later cast. In a way, this is a great thing to see. These dancers work within much more normal bodies. They are not hyper-extended and one does not feel hopelessly inadequate seeing them dance. These are real people. Thank you Bolshoi, for bringing us consistantly great dance from people with real bodies, rather than hyper-extended, impossibly lean (to down-right skeletal, as in NYCB)stick figures! Wonderful!

The Spartacus War
$15.00
Barry Strauss is a master storyteller and leading ancient historian. With impeccable research and personal observations of all the significant places in Spartacus's rebellion, he brings this heroic tale to life for a modern audience.

Spartacus - The Complete TV Miniseries
$27.98
I don't know why people bother to comment on this if they don't leave good feedback. This is truly a cinematic great! This is Sparticus as it really happened; not in a Hollywood set. For the first time we know who Verina is and how she and Sparticus came to be. Their love is truly one on great tragety(however the hell you spell that). This deserves far more credit that these small minded people give it. One more thing, Marcus Lycenius Crassus didn't make it through the battle with Sparticus.