Spardiculous

So I was watching Spartacus last night on USA. Doesn't seem to be too accurate historically. The biggest thing for me was the Romans using cavalry with stirrups in 72 B.C. I don't think stirrups were common in Europe until at least 500 A.D. I guess the show was reasonably entertaining, but I see no reason why they would have to change the story around.

Edit: This was the new Spartacus mini-series, not the old one with Kirk Douglas.