Diksha Sundriyal
Starz’s ‘Spartacus: House of Ashur’ brings back a highly loathed character from the original ‘Spartacus’ series, which ended its run in 2013. Now, more than a decade later, Ashur has returned to live a different reality, one that rewrites his much-deserved fate from the events of ‘Spartacus: Vengeance.’ In ‘House of Ashur,’ he not only survives the events on Mount Vesuvius, but he also goes on to play an integral role in bringing down Spartacus, earning him the things he’d only ever dreamed about. The series draws on real historical figures and events, and with Ashur, it presents a realistic character who is ready to do whatever it takes to ensure his survival. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fictional Ashur Portrays the Real Political Machinations of Ancient Rome
While ‘Spartacus: House of Ashur’ borrows from real events and historical figures to light the match of conflict in its story, the character of Ashur remains an imaginary one. He was introduced in ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand,’ which used creative liberties to depict the infamous gladiator’s story while staying rooted in reality. While he may not be real, Ashur represents the fight for survival, which turns into the unquenchable quest for power, highlighting an aspect of humanity that has remained unchanged over time. His journey from slave and a gladiator to freedom presents the many hoops of fire that a person had to jump through to attain their freedom in Ancient Rome. For the viewers, he becomes a villain, ready to backstab anyone if the opportunity serves him, but the show’s creators never really saw him that way. Nick E. Tarabay, who plays Ashur, never saw the character as a bad or evil man and “saw that everything he did was justified because he had to survive.”
He pointed out that, at the time, people like Ashur didn’t have the privilege of living among those who were different from them. He had to adapt and survive in a time when, even when he tried to be loyal to someone, he was marginalized because of where he came from and what his past had turned him into. The actor notes that despite Ashur’s villainous actions in the original series, ‘House of Ashur’ presents him in a different light, because this time, there are even worse people around him. “After meeting them, you’ll think Ashur isn’t so bad after all,” Tarabay added. Apart from carrying an inherent understanding of the role, Tarabay also trained himself for the physical and vocal challenges that would accompany the project. Having worked on the three seasons of ‘Spartacus,’ he was familiar with creator Steven DeKnight’s writing, which works quite differently. The actor revealed that he started working on Shakespeare because he knew how “demanding” the writing was going to be.
At the same time, he also had to prepare for the fight scenes, which he has a lot of, even though he is the dominus this time around. His past as a former gladiator allowed the story to feature him in some thrilling fight scenes. For this, he and other actors went through a month of gladiator camp. They trained for four hours a day, with the lessons ranging from wrestling to handling weapons to jiujitsu to CrossFit. While all this prepared Tarabay to take on the role physically, he was also mentally prepared to explore some dark places. At the end of the day, however, he sees Ashur as someone who just wants to be “accepted and loved.” As the audience follows him through the season of ‘House of Ashur,’ Tarabay promised that they will see a more emotionally rooted side of Ashur, as he finally finds something worth fighting for. While it does not wash away his past sins, it does make him someone that the audience can empathise with, and maybe even root for.
Read More: Spartacus: Is the Movie Inspired by True Historical Events?
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