Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-04-29

shows. The little that we learn Of his
character from the unfriendly writers
who have preserved his name and
deeds shows that he was man Of nc
ordinary mold. The Strongest passion
that inspired him seems to have been
desire to return once more to his ma
tive land, and to win q like right for
the slaves who fought by his side. For
the rest, he carried himself as soldier
Of honor. Fight though he was against
men who, had they captured him,
would have nailed him to a cross, he
struggled valiantly though vainly to
impress on his savage followers mod
Grafton and self-restraint in the hour
Of victory. With these followers he
shared every hardship, and he gained
their affection no less by his skill and
courage than by the justice Of his rule
and fair division Of the spoil. Dimly
as we see him in the mists Of history,
he stands forth man far greater than
the drill-sergeant Pompey, or the
money-lender Crassus, who led against
him the armies of Rome.
To return to the story. The efforts
Of the brigands Of Vesuvius soon
alarmed the villas Of Campania.
Troops were demanded from RomeI
and force Of 5000 men arrived to
block Vesuvius and starve out the rob-
bers. The brigands, many Of them
armed only with stakes, climbed down
the rocks and attacked their foes. The
Romans broke and fed, and the little
band Of outlaws held Campania at
their mercy. And soon they were no
longer a little band. From hill and
valley foreign slaves poured into their
camp, and when later on strong Ro-
man army led by the prator Virinius
marched against them, they found the
bandits entrenched like regular army
ready to face them in the field. Fear
fell on the Romans, some troops broke
and disappeared, and when Varinius
had restored discipline among those
who remained, and advanced to the
attack, he was too late. Spartacus had
turned south by Picentia and had en-
tered Lucania, where shepherd slaves
and outlaws filed the countryside. To
his banner they flocked in thousands,
and Varinius arrived only to suffer q
defeat and to flee, leaving his horse,
his official decorations and the eagles
of the legion in the hands Of the
slaves. Spartacus, with the swiftness
of De Wet, doubled back into Cam
pania, and defeated and killed the un-
happy questor whom Virinius had left
in command.
Spartacus was for the time lord Of
the countryside. He wandered every
where, plundering the villas, and even
sacking or blackmailing some walled
towns. The trembling Romans saw in
him another Hannibal, and we learn
from Horace that in these terrible
years there was hardly a bottle Of wine
laid down in q Roman villa. Every
bottle Of these years vintages was
drunk by the brigand army. Yet Spar
tacus found in his own followers his
worst foes. They followed him Loyalty
in the hour. Of danger. but success
turned their heads. Thracian and Celt
formed themselves into rival hosts,
and all alike plundered and massacred
with cruel ferocity. Spartacus strug-
gled in vain to find for them policy.
When in the following year the scene
Of fighting had changed to the north,
and he was master Of the Apennines,
he vainly suggested to his followers
that they should return to their own
lands. They preferred the spoils Of
Italy. He saw the weak side Of his
army and he tried to secure for it bet
ter arms, and to form cavalry squad
rons. He could make no alliance with
any party in Rome; no town would
espouse his cause. Yet for him the
year 72 was year Of victories. Crix-
Gus and his Celts were indeed cut off
and killed, but Spartacus beat consul
and prator, and again carried into his
camp the Roman eagles.
At last the, senate raised itself to
face the danger. Its greatest generals,
Pompey and Lentulus, were absent,
but Crassus, the great man Of business,
was available. With eight legions
Crassus began his campaign and grad
ally pushed Spartacus to the south.
Then bold idea occurred to the des-
perate chief. He would transport the
remnants Of his force to Sicily, where
the rural serfs were always ready for
war. The pirates, perhaps bribed by
Crassus's gold, took the bandits mon
ey and left them in the lurch. Cras-
sus tried a blockade, but once more
Spartacus broke out and plunged on to
Calabria. The frightened senate sum-
moned Pompey to Crassuss aid, but all
was over before Pompey came. The
bandits demanded a battle against
their leaders advice, and in Lucania,
the scene of his old victories. Sparta
Gus died a soldiers death. Pompey ar
rived to join in the man hunt, and six
thousand crosses, on each Of which a
captured slave was nailed, proclaimed
the victory Of the plutocrats Of Rome.
But the victory rang the deat tn knell
of Rome's worthless oligarchy. The
generals who had saved society claim
ed to rule 1t.
And what Is the moral? The epi-
sode is but one Of many in the worlds
history which go to show that aristo-
cratic tyranny breeds revolution in
which men have to choose between the
alternative of anarchy and government
by the sword. The revolt Of Spartacus
did nothing to benefit his class; but it
led to the ruin Of those who believed