The native American., 1838-01-06

strength by fire. Before the action, Spartacu
|harangued his troops:t s'Comrades,'' said he
sswe are entering into not merely single bal
tie, but long war. We must behave ourselve
as true soldiers. A first success will be the sur
promise of train of other successes which viii
follow it. We must live upon continual victories
or become the victims of an infamous and tortur
ing DEATH &c.
| The Roman Legions were routed, Varinius
thrown from his horse, hardly escaped; his war
horse, his arms his purple toga his lictors, ane
fdsces, all the emblems of his dignity, fell into
the hands of the victor. With these ensigns O
authority, Spartacus, the slave, the champion o
liberty, and the hero, was afterwards, not very
consistently, accustomed to robe himself. By his
victory all the lower part OF Lucania was open
to him. He first established his quarters at Met
opontum, city said to have been built by Mes
tor, at the time of the Trojan war, and subse-
quently at Thurium, built originally by colony
of Athenians, and of which the ruins even vel
may be seen on the Gulf Of Tarentum; Torrana
is its present name. In this latter place he en-
deavored, with some success, to make his army
amenable to discipline: and as they were now
living not only in abundance but superabundance
of all necessary provisions, lest his hardy war
riors should become effemnated by luxury, he en-
forced regulation by which money of every
kind was excluded from the camp. 1t was made
a high crime to be in possession of the circula-
ting coin. He himself gave away all the gold
and silver he possessed to the poor and to those
who had suffered by the war, and many of his
generals followed his example.
Varinius had now got another army on foot.
Despairing Of dislodging his enemy from Thur
um, he contented himself at first with watching
his movements from his fortified camp, and enga-
ging from time to time in partial encounters. But
the SHOWS beginning to fall upon the mountains,
he perceived that he could no longer keep the
|open field, and was obliged to come to decisive
action. Il
Spartacus, desiring not to attack, but to be at
tackled, made movement in retreat This had
the effect aimed at. The Roman army advanced
with confidence. Somewhat disappointed they
were, however, when they saw those whom they
had regarded as fugtives drawn upin battle array,
and moment afterwards moving forward with
shouts, as if victory were already theirs. The
first attack on the Romans was by Crixus who
had been placed at the head of his Gauls in am
bush, in the deep bed of dried-up torrent. Is
suing therefrom suddenly, he fell upon Roman
division with boldness and with success. Vari-
MUS coming to the support OF this division, the
action became general and the defeat OF the le-
gions complete. Thus ended the first campaign
of the war Of Spartacus.
Its results to the insurgents had been immense.
|ly advantageous. In the course of few months,
from seventy gladiators, they had become seventy
thousand experienced warriors. And this was al.
together owing to the merit of the extraordinary
man at their head. He had been victorious II
three pitched battles, in two obstinate and bloody
engagements, and in several smaller combats
without being once defeated. None of his plans
south of Italy; his were great; his army
in fine condition; and he was ready for second
campaign with every hope of success. Y ct was
he well aware, that one battle lost would make
twenty victories useless. 1t was his design,
therefore, to retreat with his army to Sicily, to
get into the Alps. From the difficulty of finding
conveyance by water, he was obliged to determ-
inc on the latter project. In this, however, he
was opposed by Crixus and his Ganls, who
were, like wild bravos, for marching straight upon
Rome They separated with their leader, to the
number Of thirty thousand from Spartacus, en-
countered the Roman army, under the Prator
Arrius, on the frontiers of the Samnite country,
and gained great victory. In few days after
wards, Crixus and his Gauls were attacked by
the Consul Gellus. At the moment of the at
tack, the insurgent leader was plunged in deep
debauch, and all his faculties lost in drunkenness.
Ills army was uIteFly QeStTOyeu, anu HlIiiScl
slain. 1t was in this action that Cato, afterwards
SO famous, but then a young volunteer, first dis
tinguished himself.
Rome was at present fully reused out Of her
contempt for the power Of Spartacus. She sent
her two consus, Lentulus and Gellius, with two
separate armies to oppose him, and made prepara-
tions for sustaining the war, as if Pyrrhus or a
Hannibal had been her enemy.
Meantime the hero against whom all these pre-
parations were directed, had, by forced marches,
advanced as far as that part of the Apennines
which traverses Etruria, not far from the Arno.
The Consul Lentulus first came up with him, and
his object was to bring that general into action be-
fore he could be joined by Gellius. Lentulus,
however, would not be drawn into an engage
ment. A junction of the two Roman armies be-
came inevitable; separately, however, Spartacus
was resolved to attack them For this purpose
he detached corps of Thracians from his main
body to cut down trees, and thus block up the
road over which Gellius must pass. The Thra-
clans had also in charge to attack the arriving ar
nv, vet not SO as to get seriously engaged, bu,
sufficiently only to amuse and detain the enemy.
These dispositions being made, Spartacus again
offered battle to Lentulus, and the latter knowing
that his colleague was in the immediate neighbor-
hood, no longer declined the provocation. Ar
Al