Spartacus has returned with all the gore and the action in House of Ashur, the new spinoff airing on Starz. The story reimagines the life of the Syrian, Ashur, who meets a deadly fate in the original series and is given a second chance in this alternative history.Joining Sportskeeda to expound upon the Spartacus universe were Ashur himself, Nick E. Tarabay, and Showrunner Steven S. DeKnight. Why has the Spartacus universe not just survived but thrived over the years?Tarabay explained:"I think this world has long legs. Very, very long legs to be honest with you. Because that era is so fascinating and will always be fascinating for people. The rawness and the grittiness, I think there’ll always be a world for it." View this post on Instagram Instagram PostAccording to Tarabay, there's enough substance for the Spartacus universe to continue until he and the cast are 100 years old!:"And Rome, especially at that time has so much history. So much stories to be told. I don’t think Steven will never run out of stories to tell. So I think this show can go on till we’re like a 100 years old. And we’re fighting arthritis. I can’t get my brain together but you get what I am saying."Why did Steven S. DeKnight return to the Spartacus universe?From Smallville to Daredevil, Steven S. DeKnight boasts a very wide repertoire of work. But he is best known for the original Spartacus series. He feels like now is the right time to tell the story of the House of Ashur:"Well, I’d always loved the universe. And Starz and Lionsgate had reached out multiple times over the last decade to see if I was interested and available in doing more. And I was either too busy or still recovering from doing the first round."There was one line in the original series that inspired the current spinoff! In fact, DeKnight had several other ideas before the spinoff was born:"But they finally got me at just the right time, and I thought about maybe doing Caesar or the triumvirate or Anthony and Cleopatra but I kept coming back to a line from the original series that Nick had, where he says this is the rise of the house of Ashur. And then he gets his head chopped off."This alternate history also allowed the Spartacus showrunner to play around with actual history and tell a story like none other:"And, I always thought that would be a really fun show to work on. And also, by bringing Nick back in this 'what if' concept, I can change history. And one of the first things that Ashur being alive changes is the introduction of the gladiatrix…the female gladiator. Which historically happens about 80 years later in actual history."Catch a new House of Ashur episode every Friday on the Starz app and all Starz streaming platforms. Stay tuned for new exclusive content from the show!