Spartacus begins with three young Roman patricians – Caius, his sister Helena and her friend Claudia, commencing a journey from Rome to Capua along the Via Appia a few weeks after the final suppression of the slave revolt.

During the first day of their travel the party encounter several representative individuals; a minor politician, a prosperous businessman of the equestrian class, an eastern trader and a young officer of the legions; all of whom give their respective perspectives on the rising.

On arrival at a palatial country villa where they are to spend the night, the trio meet with other guests, both historical and fictional, who either played key roles in the events just finished or who have sufficient perception to analyze the significance of slavery as an institution within the Roman Republic.

Eventually, he and several Thracian slaves, including his comrade Gannicus, are bought by a wealthy lanista, Lentulus Batiatus, who owns and trains a large number of gladiators at a school near the Italian city of Capua.

Led by Spartacus and Crixus, the rebels overwhelm their trainers and guards, force Lentulus Batiatus to flee, and destroy the city garrison sent to stop them.

The narrative structure is based on several members of the Roman ruling hierarchy (Crassus, Gracchus, Caius, and Cicero) who, using the past tense, are shown meeting to relate tales of the events in Spartacus's life and uprising.

[1] In the 1991 paperback version (ibooks, distributed by Simon & Schuster; ISBN 0-7434-1282-6), the author has a short introduction, "Spartacus and the Blacklist", which expands on the conditions surrounding the writing and publishing of the work.