An Action-Packed Historical TV Show Is Taking Over Netflix's Top Charts

Thanks to television becoming premium entertainment in the 21st century, historical adventure shows are now able to secure bigger budgets than in years gone by, resulting in small-screen tales as good as anything on the big screen. One of the best action-packed historical shows of the 2010s has suddenly become a big hit on Netflix, breaking into the streamer's top 10 TV shows list. We're talking about the Starz series "Spartacus," which is seeing a renaissance on streaming more than a decade after it ended.

Following the historical figure of the same name (a Thracian gladiator who led a slave uprising against the Romans), "Spartacus" is the brainchild of Steven S. DeKnight, who would later develop the first season of Marvel's "Daredevil" for Netflix. It debuted in 2010, led by little-known Welsh actor Andy Whitfield. Tragically, the role of Spartacus had to be recast after Whitfield died of cancer in 2011 aged just 39, with Australian actor Liam McIntyre taking over the role for the second and third seasons, "Spartacus: Vengeance" and "Spartacus: War of the Damned."

"Spartacus" is a binge-worthy series and is widely seen as one of the best-ever Starz Original shows. Its sudden success on Netflix could well be fueled in part by the fact that a revival is on the way, with DeKnight returning for the sequel series "Spartacus: House of Ashur" in 2025.  

Just because Spartacus didn't survive in the main series doesn't mean there can't be a sequel. "Spartacus: House of Ashur" moves the focus to the character of Ashur, another gladiator who audiences believed had met his end. Nick E. Tarabay returns to reprise his role as Ashur in the new series, which premieres on December 5, 2025 on Starz.

The sequel introduces a very different Ashur, years after his time as a blood-spilling gladiator. Since we last saw him, he's worked his way up through the ranks into the world of Roman politics and finds that navigating this new political arena is just as complicated — and bloody — as any battle he faced on the field. He's now in charge of a bunch of gladiators himself, and he causes waves by introducing a female gladiator to the arena, shocking the established elite.

Tarabay leads the cast alongside Tenika Davis ("Jupiter's Legacy"), who plays the female gladiator Achillia. The cast is rounded out by Graham McTavish ("House of the Dragon"), Jordi Webber ("Prosper"), Jamaica Vaughan ("Home and Away"), Claudia Black ("The Nevers"), India Shaw-Smith ("The Pines Still Whisper"), Leigh Gill ("Game of Thrones"), and Ivana Baquero, who played Ofelia in Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth."