People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1892-12-30

tacus. He was large, splendidly
formed, active and strong. So they
decided to make him gladiator.
He was their slave, and this, they
thought, was the best work they could
put him at. They felt convinced
that a man of his build, when prop
erly trained, would furnish them lots
of sport killing other men. He was
trained accordingly. He was taught
all the skill of the Roman soldier.
He was made to exercise it in due
time. Many combat, to the death,
did he have with men who had done
him no wrong. He was helpless, and
so were they. He was compelled to
fight them and they were compelled
to fight him. 1t is said that he
had to fight his own brother, not
knowing who it was till after the he'll
met was taken off the dying man.
Then he saw it was his younger
brother whom he had killed to furn-
ISL sport for his masters!
Is it any wonder his soul burst into
flame and that he made dash for
freedom
He did so. He organized his fell
low gladiators, watched his chance,
and one night he and seventy-seven
of them fought their way out of the
city and took refuge in the crater of
Mount Vesuvius.
A small band of soldiers were sent
against them. Spartacus stole upon
them in the night, cut them to pieces,
seized all their weapons and went
back to the mountain.
The news of this victory spread
like wildfre. The thousands of
slaves all over the country began to
breathe the breath of hope. Hun
dreds of them threw down their tools
and hurried to join Spartacus. His
little band swelled into an army.
Three thousand Roman soldiers
were sent against him. He sprang
upon them with all the spirit of Ma
poleon and routed them utterly.
The Roman historians have told
us as little as possible about this
struggle of the Slaves for freedom.
The details are few and the facts
disputed. But we can gather enough
to arrive at the conclusion that this
second victory Of Spartaous shook
the Roman world like an earthquake.
1t is worth our while to study the
state of things then existing.
In the story Of the Gracchi I have
told you how few great landlords
gobbled up all the public lands which
belonged rightfuIly to all the citizens
equally. The small farmers were
crowded out.
This, of course, bred dissatisfac-
ton. The people who had been un-
Justly deprived of their homes only
wanted a leader and the opportunity.
They were in the mood to fight.
Then, again, these large landlords
worked the public lands with slave
labor. 1t got to the point in Rome,
just as it did in our country thirty
years ago, that poor freeman who
owned no Slaves was sometimes
worse off than the Slaves.
This was a second cause for dis
satisfaction. Then, again, the capt.
talists advanced the rates of interest
to ruinous figure and the price of
money steadily advanced, crushing
the life from thousands of farms and
from thousands of shops every year.
The rich grew richer and the poor
grew poorer.
Those who suffered from this usury
were of course unhappy and the
greed of capitalists, unchecked by
law, was a third source of dissatis-
faction.
Then came the question of eman-
cipation. All the Slaves wanted
freedom. Their lot was, at least, a
hard one. Generally they were not
allowed to have wives. They could
hold no property. No law could
protect them from the cruelty of hard
Masters. They were chained to-
gether IN gangs and made to labor in
the fields, the mines, the quarries and
the shops.
Some were trained to fight wild
beasts for the amusement Of elegant
audiences of "high society"
Some were trained to fight each
other and to make the theatre run
with human blood In ordar that the