Sex and violence, ‘Spartacus’ style

'House of Ashur' reboots the Roman drama, this time with the villain in charge.

- ROBERT LLOYD TELEVISION CRITIC

ASHUR (Nick E. Tarabay), front, confers with Korris (Graham McTavish).

(Matt Klitscher Starz)

Everything is a matter of taste, and most people know what they like. If you are not already aboard the “Spartacus” express, of which “Spartacus: House of Ashur” is the fifth installment and the first since 2013, you should know in short order whether its mix of soft porn, graphic violence and scrabbling for power is your goblet of wine.

In this reboot, piloted again by Steven S. DeKnight and premiering Friday on Starz, Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay), who was a bad guy in the previous series, killed by Spartacus on Mount Vesuvius, finds himself in the underworld, facing Lucy Lawless, returning for a cameo as Lucretia, who recaps the story and sends him back to Earth in a timeline where he killed Spartacus instead—no reason given, or how it is being managed.

And, presto, Ashur wakes up in bed with “body slaves” Hilara (Jamaica Vaughan) and Messia (Ivana Baquero) as the boss of the ludus — a school for gladiators — where he once was employed by Lucretia’s husband. (And not a very pleasant boss, either.)