Barca

Barca
Gods of the Arena Blood and Sand
First appearance	Comic #3: The Beast of Carthage S0E01: Past Transgressions S1E01: The Red Serpent
Last appearance	S1E06: Delicate Things
Profession	Gladiator (House of Batiatus) Bodyguard (Quintus Batiatus)
Race	Phoenician (Carthaginian)
Relationships	Titus Lentulus Batiatus (Dominus, deceased) Quintus Lentulus Batiatus (Dominus, deceased) Mago (Father, deceased) Elissa (Mother, deceased) Cyprian (Best Friend/Lover, deceased) Pietros (Lover, deceased) Auctus (Lover, deceased) Ulpius (Doctore, deceased) Oenomaus (Doctore/Friend, deceased) Crixus (Friend, deceased) Gannicus (Friend, deceased) Leviticus (Friend) Fulco (Friend, deceased) Pollux (Friend) Lydon (Friend) Litaviccus (Friend, deceased) Tyronius (Friend) Ashur (Enemy, deceased) Dagan (Rival/Enemy, deceased) Gnaeus (Rival/Enemy, deceased)
Status	Deceased (Killed by Batiatus)
Actor/Actress	Antonio Te Maioho



Barca is a recurring character in the Spartacus series. He is one of the top Gladiator’s in Batiatus' Ludus, becoming famously known as the Beast of Carthage after defeating his father Mago in the arena. He is the lover of Auctus, and later Pietros.

Appearance

Barca has a light-brown skin tone and is the tallest gladiator in the Ludus. He has long, shoulder-length black hair, which he wears behind him in dreadlocks or braids and allows it to fall on his shoulders. While training or fighting, he usually wears either a utility vest/harness or a manica and galerus; the latter two cover the right side of his chest and come down diagonally from the left shoulder. This is in addition to his subligaria, ocrea (metal or leather greaves), a cingulum (wide protective belt worn by gladiators), and balteus (belt worn to hold up subligaria). When functioning as a bodyguard and assassin for Batiatus, he usually just wears a subligaria, balteus, footwear, and sometimes a utility harness or vest.

Barca fights in the style of hoplomachus, and is equipped in the arena accordingly with a spear, round shield and short sword. He wears a metal helmet with an extravagant plume when fighting in the arena.

Personality

Barca is shown to be one of the better-rounded character in the series. Although he enjoys bullying those he sees as his inferiors, he reveals a gentler side when with those he loves dearly, such as Auctus and their birds, and later Pietros. Being at the ludus longer than most of the men, he has formed many friendships, and respects his brothers who he believes have earned the title of gladiator. He even becomes close friends with Crixus, despite the fact that it was he who killed Auctus in the arena. This, and his befriending of Spartacus, show that he is capable of changing his negative views of people, and adjusting his treatment of them accordingly.

His battle prowess is recognized and respected by both his domini, Titus and Quintus Lentulus Batiatus. After the death of the latter's bodyguard, Barca is recruited to protect Quintus when he leaves the ludus, as well as carry out secret and/or unpleasant tasks. This implies that Quintus holds much trust in Barca's abilities, as well as his loyalty.

Combat Prowess

Barca has earned the epithet, "The Beast of Carthage", for his exceptional performance while executing fellow prisoners of war in the arena, including his father. It is said that Barca's father, Mago, was a legendary warrior. Since Barca was able to kill him, he proved himself an expert fighter.

In both Blood and Sand and Gods of the Arena, Barca is said to be among the best of Batiatus's gladiators, alongside Gannicus, Auctus, and later Crixus and Spartacus. While skilled with a sword, dagger, and in hand-to-hand combat, his preferred weapon is the spear and shield combination.

History

The Beast of Carthage

Barca originally came from a fierce warrior village a region near Carthage, where he enjoyed playing with birds alongside his best friend Cyprian. However, Barca's father Mago, the Chieftain of the village, saw this as pathetic and told his wife Elissa that their son was becoming weak by playing, not a strong warrior like he should grow up to be. One day, Roman soldiers invaded the village and Elissa told Barca and Cyprian to hide in the closet while she confronted a soldier that broke into their home. Barca was forced to watch as his mother was being beheaded by the soldier, causing him to fall into a depression where he would stay by his late mother's side for many days until his father and the men of his village returned. Mago, returning to his house, found his son crying over his wife's corpse. Sad and angered, Mago blamed his son's cowardice for his wife's death and disowned him.

Barca, now out of a home and family decided there was only one thing he could do which was train for many years the young boy trained until he became a formidable warrior during this time Barca and his group of assembled men had fought and defeated several many Roman legions. At some point during this time Barca and Cyprian had become lovers and had march their men towards Rome before they crossed a steep river Barca had his men fill the water with the bodies of a group of Gaul’s they had defeated "The Gaul’s proved themselves useful" quoted Barca on this victory. One night while he and his men were gathered around fire a legion of Romans attack though they fought well the Phoenicians were simply no match for the romans who either killed or captured them. In the fray, Cyprian was killed while trying to protect Barca who called out to him before the dying Cyprian told Barca "Remember me." This sight angered Barca who attacked the soldiers with full might, despite his best efforts he was defeated and captured along with his surviving men.

Barca vs. his father Mago.

The Phoenicians were taken to Capua where they were forced to fight each other, Barca was able to defend himself and take down many of his own people and was one of the two remaining warriors on the sands as he turned to face his opponent and came across a shocking sight his father Mago was also in the arena. Father and Son were shocked to see each other and knowing there was no way out the two began to fight each other as they did one of the watching nobles saying “I would purchase the winner". On the sands, Mago and Barca battled and both possessed an advantage for Mago it was strength and years for Barca it was strength and youth, they fought for half a day but eventually Barca gained the upper hand over Mago and was able to bring him to his knees. As he was on his knees, Mago looked up at Barca and in an admiring tone stated" Barca, you are my son!" Barca told him “And I live veral father" he then stabbed Mago through the throat after some hesitation.

From that moment on Barca became the "Beast of Carthage" and was then purchased by Titus Lentulus Batiatus.

House of Batiatus

Barca became a prominent and ruthless gladiator in The House of Batiatus. He became trained in the style of Hoplomachus, befriended other gladiators like Oenomaus and Gannicus, and grew close to another Hoplomachus named Auctus, who would then become his lover. The two of them eventually live as a couple in a shared cell, caring for Auctus' pet birds and maintaining their positions as elite gladiators.

Gods of the Arena

Barca is one of the most skilled gladiators, known as the "Beast of Carthage" and serves the House of Batiatus. He often torments and insults the recruits alongside his lover, Auctus. The two are often at odds with Ashur and Dagan and frequently pick fights with them, which later escalate into a full-out brawl between the gladiators. He also taunts Crixus for being too small and weak.

Barca as Hoplomachus.

Barca is selected alongside Auctus, Gnaeus and Crixus to fight in the arena. He is pitted against Gnaeus, a Dacian gladiator who has longed to fight Barca. Despite this eagerness, he is bested by Barca, who humiliates him. The editor Quintilius Varus lets Gnaeus live, to Barca's dismay, and Gnaeus bears a deep grudge against Barca from then on. Auctus then fights Crixus, with Barca cheering his lover on. However, Crixus surprises everyone by defeating and killing Auctus, and Barca can only watch in tears as his lover takes his last breath to the cheers of the crowd. For his achievement, Crixus gains the mark of the brotherhood, and Barca grudgingly greets Crixus as a brother. He then falls into a deep state of depression, drawing Crixus' concern.

Eventually, Crixus

Barca and Auctus.

comes to Barca while grieving in his and Auctus' cell, and offers his bread to feed the birds, which he believes to be Barca's pets. Barca is resentful at first, but then Crixus explains his reason for wanting to become a gladiator, and states that Auctus will never be forgotten. Barca is comforted by the fact that someone besides him will remember Auctus, and as Crixus turns to leave, Barca explains that the birds were Auctus' pets, not his. He has not cared for them, but now they are all he has left of Auctus. He accepts the bread from Crixus and from that point on the two develop a close friendship and act as confidants. Barca's mood improves somewhat with time and his friendship with Crixus, but neither his training nor his emotional state return to what they once were. This is exacerbated by his rape at the hands of Roman nobles, who use him for pleasure during Lucretia's orgy in Beneath the Mask. When Batiatus plans to settle things with Tullius and Vettius, he selects Barca along with several other gladiators to storm and brawl in the streets. Barca is stabbed by one Tullius' thugs, but saved by Batiatus.

Barca in Gods of the Arena.

Due to his injury, he is unable to fight in the Games of the New Arena and instead aids his brothers in preparation, particularly Crixus. Gannicus later wins his freedom from the games after defeating Caburus. Back at the Ludus, Barca bids farewell to Gannicus and promises him that he will one day win his freedom and find him one day to embrace him as brother once again, but this time as a free man.

Blood and Sand

Barca serves as the second best gladiator in the Ludus as the "Beast of Carthage" and best friend to the current Champion of Capua, Crixus. Like Crixus he constantly berates and insults both Spartacus and his recruitment class. He is also the lover of the young Pietros, a slave who serves Doctore.

During the final test for Spartacus and his recruitment group he is set to face Marcus, whom he soundly defeats. He then watches as Crixus is bested by Spartacus (Through means of the piece of cloth belonging to his wife).

Barca serves

Barca and Crixus taunt Spartacus.

directly as Batiatus' bodyguard and often escorts him into town, but is also sent along with Ashur on several occasions. When preparing Spartacus for The Pit, because of his unsuccessful career as a gladiator, he sees that Spartacus has endured a lot and gained some respect for the Thracian.

Ashur and Barca later make a wager on the Shadow Games where Crixus and Spartacus are to fight the legendary and undefeated Theokoles. Barca bets money with Ashur in their favor, who gladly takes the bet, as he is certain the duo would lose to the Shadow of Death. This proves troublesome for Ashur when Spartacus manages to defeat Theokeles, and Ashur therefore owes Barca a large sum, for which the latter threatens him.

Barca seeks to purchase his freedom along Pietros using his winnings from the wager along with other coin he had earned in the arena. His intent is for them to settle near where Carthage once stood and live their lives as farmers, which Pietros happily takes too. Pietros, however, becomes worried

Barca and Pietros.

about Barca and his deeds after finding some bloody clothing that Barca wore when he killed Ovidius and his entire house, including a young boy which saddens Pietros. In order to keep Pietros from feeling despair he tells him that he had actually let the boy go and that they would be gone before the boy would be discovered and stating that Pietros alone will be the one to command him in the future, showing more of the love he has for him. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Ashur had overheard the entire this and quickly plots a way to be free of his debt.

"Now you're free!"

Batiatus soon learns that the son of Ovidius lives and is infuriated with Ashur coming forward about a possible revelation that Barca betrayed him. Batiatus first speaks to Pietros and manipulates the conversation to confirm the suspicions. Barca is brought to Batiatus (Barca believing that he is there to speak of his freedom) and is questioned about the subject. Barca states he lied to Pietros in order to comfort him. Batiatus begins to believe Barca, but before this could happen, Ashur stabs Barca and begins a fight. Barca valiantly defends himself but being unarmed and outnumbered is defeated. As he weakenly crawls his way out he is stopped by Batiatus who grabs his hair and slits his throat yelling "Now you're free!" clearly mocking the gladiator’s desire for freedom leaving him to die in the rain. Barca's body is then carried out of the room by two houseslaves on Batiatus’ orders due to impending guest.

The guest is Magistrate Calvaius, who is Ovidius' cousin, arrives stating that Ovidius' son was indeed killed and not found alive at all, another part of the plot conducted by Ashur, thus confirming that Barca was telling the truth after all. Batiatus and Lucretia later justify his death as desiring freedom was a treachery in itself and thus wipe the concern from their minds.

Barca’s death inevitably causes Pietros to suffer in the Ludus where he is abused greatly at the hands of Gnaeus and later takes his own life. Crixus comments that losing his best friend and with Spartacus being champion is equivalent to him "awakening to a world of shit"

War of the Damned

At the tribute games to honor Crixus one of the rebels (presumably a gladiator or slave of the House of Batiatus) shouts his name to honor him.

List of Appearances

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

• 001: Past Transgressions
• 002: Missio
• 003: Paterfamilias
• 004: Beneath The Mask
• 005: Reckoning
• 006: The Bitter End

Spartacus: Blood and Sand

• 101: The Red Serpent
• 102: Sacramentum Gladiatorum
• 103: Legends
• 104: The Thing in the Pit
• 105: Shadow Games
• 106: Delicate Things

Books

Barca appears as one of the characters in Spartacus: Swords and Ashes.

Killed Victims

• Marcus – Back sliced. (Sacramentum Gladiatorum)
• Mago – Stabbed in the throat, flashback. (Legends)
• Pit Assassin – Stabbed with a knive. (The Thing in the Pit)
• Laelia – Killed off-screen on Batiatus orders. (Shadow Games)
• Ovidius – Killed on Batiatus orders. (Shadow Games)
• Ovidius' son – Killed off-screen on Batiatus orders. (Shadow Games)
• Batiatus' Guard – Face slashed. (Delicate Things)

Trivia

• Antonio Te Maioha, the actor who plays Barca, is 195cm (6' 4") tall.
• Barca's father was Mago, whom Barca killed in order to become the Beast of Carthage as seen in the episode Legends.
• Barca is the third tallest gladiator in the series, below Theokoles and Caburus and tied with Dagan and Oenomaus.
• Barca's name is based on the Barca Dynasty of Carthage. The people of Barca originated from the Eastern Mediterranean, and settled in Northern Africa. Their name is based on Semetic languages.
• In the episode Beneath The Mask, Barca tells Crixus that the pet pigeons he cares for belonged to Auctus. However, in The Beast of Carthage we see Barca caring for pet birds as a young boy (with his childhood friend and eventual lover), clearly meant to foreshadow Barca and Pietros' pet pigeons in Spartacus: Blood and Sand. This conflicting continuity can be reconciled by assuming that it is a coincidence that Auctus cared for birds as Barca oncaps triggering a buried childhood memory for Barca after his death).
• It is revealed in the episode The Thing in the Pit that Crixus had confided in Barca his affair with Lucretia and his attraction to Naevia.
• Although Barca typically fights in the style of Hoplomachus, in the novel Spartacus: Swords and Ashes, he chooses to fight in the primus of the Funeral Games of Marcus Pelorus wielding an axe, in the style of Secutor.
• Barca is said to have witnessed the fall of Carthage. However, Carthage was destroyed by Rome in the year 146 BCE, whereas the rebellion of Spartacus, otherwise known to history as the Third Servile War, started in 73 BCE, seventy-four years later. Possibly, the inhabitants of the Ludus conflated the fall of Carthage with the Roman conquest of the Numidian king Jugurtha in 104 B.C., since Numidia had been historically allied with Carthage but had survived its destruction by changing sides, annexing several Carthaginian cities as reward. Some of those cities may have been destroyed in the Jugurthine War, letting Barca witness the final downfall of Carthage as a people forty years after the destruction of the city of Carthage.
• Since the death of Batiatus' other slave in the First Episode of Gods of the Arena, Barca has acted as his dominus' regular escort on the streets of Capua. The Latin term for a bodyguard was Stipator. Certain Roman noblemen, famously both Gaius Marius and his rival Lucius Cornelius Sulla, had both employed gladiators as Stipatores (plural).
• The literal Latin term for bodyguard is Custos Corporis.
• Barca and Crixus were the main gladiators who taunt Spartacus. But after Spartacus kills Theokoles, Barca shows him more respect, but he is killed by Batiatus before they become eventually friends.
• He was never seen fighting in the new arena.
• Barca is also one of a few homosexual characters in the series.
• Barca was the first main character to be killed.

Quotes

Gods of the Arena

• "Oenomaus! This one is too small. I will have something the size of a man." ― Barca to Oenomaus, not respecting him as Doctore
• "Come! Let us see what is between your legs."  ― Barca to Crixus
• "Is my long hard weapon too much for you, little man?" ― Barca to Crixus
• "Your numbers shrink!  Like frightened cock!" ― Barca to Crixus, Dagan and Ashur after losing Indus to the Mines
• Barca: "Our piss once again finds its way to their mouths!", Auctus: "As if sucked from our cocks!"
• "And I will split your ass in two." ― Barca to Gnaeus
• "I shall join you one day, you mad fuck." ― Barca to Gannicus, before Gannicus leaves the Ludus.

Blood and Sand

• "My cock keeps him well filled." ― Barca to Crixus, referenceing Pietros
• Barca: "You mad fuck, a trinket for Lucretia's pet, wasn't it?", Crixus: "Ease your mind, I am of no interest to Naevia", Barca: Nor her to you, if you value your cock attatched to your balls.
• "Thracians. Always on their backs with their legs spread." ― Barca to Crixus
• "Grab hold of your cock and be a man!" (In a softer tone) "I do what I must, Pietros. I'll return soon." ― Barca to Pietros
• "I do not care for margins. Beg, steal or kill to cover what is owed, or you will have two worthless legs and nothing in between to prop yourself up!" ― Barca to Ashur