Spartacus (Revealing Antiquity)
We can be reasonably certain about a few facts regarding Spartacus and the massive slave revolt he led in Italy in the first century BCE. He escaped from a gladiatorial training school, attracted thousands of followers, won several victories against Roman legions, and was defeated and presumably killed in a battle against vastly superior Roman forces. As for the rest, including his character, goals, and personal life, we are left with contradictory sources, speculation, and myth. Schiavone has strived admirably to glean additional truth from this morass. He accepts, as have others, that Spartacus was a Thracian who served as a Roman auxiliary soldier until he deserted for unexplained reasons. He may have then briefly survived as a sort of guerrilla bandit until his capture and enslavement. Schiavone credibly dismisses the idea that Spartacus was some sort of proto-Marxist class warrior; instead, he sees Spartacus as a consummate soldier who was most comfortable fighting, but he doesn’t make clear what he fought for, aside from his own freedom. Still, this is a highly readable, interesting inquiry into a man and a movement that will never be fully understood. --Jay Freeman