Spartacus brings together concerns which had marked Fast's historical writing from the beginning. Both The Last Frontier (1941) and Freedom Road (1944) share the theme of slavery or subjugation, and the struggle against oppression in a Jewish context appears in My Glorious Brothers (1948). The crucifixion of a Jewish gladiator named David, one of Spartacus' most devoted companions, is depicted in great detail in one of the novel's most striking scenes. The shape-up of slaves at the gold mine and their lives in the galleys recurs in cyclical fashion as longshoremen line up on the Embarcadero and Dan Lavette's ships go down with all hands.