My wife and I watched a new swords and sandals series on the American cable channel Starz. The series is very originally titled, "Spartacus, Blood and Sand". Only the first episode has aired and is available on video on demand.
The show was less than impressive. Production relies heavily on computer-generated backgrounds, scenery, and extras, so much so that I was reminded of the early days of PowerPoint -- every presentation was full of sound effects, animations, clip art -- when the form distracted from the content. Particularly egregious were the battle and single combat scenes. They followed the pattern of the film 300: slow motion until a killing move. The screen is then literally filled with computer generated blood.
It appears that everyone who lived in ancient times had a body like a Greek god or goddess. I don't mind eye candy, and there was plenty of nudity, but the faces of the women, at least, did not match their Olympian physiques.
More irritating is the portrayal of the Romans. They all have one or more vices, avarice, lust, ambition, infidelity, etc., and all lack any virtues whatsoever. Romanitas is reserved for the noble Thracians.
On the positive side, the creators of the series put some effort into the reproductions of costumes, armor, villas, etc. And the smattering of Latin that was thrown in from time to time was actually correct! This is the only point in which the series is superior to the film Gladiator.
Since almost nothing is known about the origins of Spartacus (other than that he was from Thrace), the creators of the series had to invent his early history. They didn't do a bad job in portraying him as a minor Thracian village chief who joins the Roman auxiliary along with his compatriots but is later betrayed by the Roman commander.
My wife and I will probably keep watching the series simply because we like the period so much, but we'll be switching to it with less than enthusiasm.