Talk:Spartakiad

This name is surely derived from Sparta, the place - as with Olympia and the Olympic games - not Spartacus the person. Sparta was a city renowned for its tougness, while Spartacus was a rebel fighting against the state. Not something the Soviet Union would have wanted to promote.
 * No. According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia it was named after Spartacus the person. In the Soviet point of view Spartacus was primarily the leader of the slave and gladiators rebellion against their exploiters. The 1960 American film Spartacus was aired in Soviet cinema theaters as early as since 1965. The rebellion was described even in secondary school textbooks, and Spartacus was presented as a hero.