A FIGHTING CHANCE

Starz's gripping new drama Spartacus: House of Ashur brings the shrewd former slave back to life to face a slew of bloody adventures

- BY KATE HAHN

Fighting form: House of Ashur stars (clockwise from far left) Webber and Davis; Vaughan, Tarabay and Baquero; and McTavish

In the first 10 minutes of Spartacus: House of Ashur, Starz's sexy, gory resurrection of the epic historical franchise, cunning gladiator and former slave Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay) is freed from death in the gloomy underworld, awakens with no memory of his demise (but with two lusty, beautiful women in his bed!) and brutally slaughters a man twice his size. It's an assault on the senses, in a good way, and the chariot-race pace never slows.

“It’s a blessing to come back to this role. It was one of the most delicious I’ve done,” says Tarabay, who played the fighter in three previous iterations from showrunner and writer Steven S. DeKnight. In the 2012 finale of the series Spartacus: Vengeance, Ashur’s head was lopped off by Naevia, a slave on the side of the titular rebel leader.

Now, these 10 bloody episodes explore an alternate history. Fate gives the 1st century B.C. scrapper a new path in which Ashur killed Spartacus. That act made him a friend to the Roman Republic. He now owns his former master’s villa and gladiator school, where he’s trying to get rich by turning infighting hunks into arena celebrities.