Spartacus the Gladiator and the Roman Slave Revolt By N.S. Gill Updated November 03, 2015. Little is known about this fighting slave from Thrace beyond his role in the spectacular revolt that became known as the Third Servile War (73–71 B.C.). But sources agree that Spartacus had once fought for Rome as a legionnaire and was enslaved and sold to become a gladiator . In 73 B.C., he and a group of fellow gladiators rioted and escaped. The 78 men who followed him swelled to an army of 70,000 men, who terrified the citizens of Rome as they plundered Italy from Rome to Thurii in present-day Calabria. Spartacus the Gladiator Spartacus, perhaps a captive of a Roman legion, perhaps a former auxiliary himself, was sold, in 73 B.C., into the service of Lentulus Batiates, a man who taught at a ludus for gladiators in Capua, 20 miles from Mt. Vesuvius, in Campania . That same year Spartacus and two Gallic gladiators led a riot at the school.

Of the 200 slaves at the ludus, 78 men escaped, using kitchen tools as weapons. In the streets they found wagons of gladiatorial weapons and confiscated them. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World Thus armed, they easily defeated soldiers who tried to stop them. Stealing military-grade weapons, they set out south to Mt. Vesuvius . Three Gallic slaves, Crixus, Oenomaus and Castus, became, along with Spartacus, the leaders of band. Seizing a defensive position in the mountains near Vesuvius, they attracted thousands of slaves from the countryside—70,000 men, with another 50,000 women and children in tow. Early Success The slave rebellion happened at a moment when Rome's legions were abroad. Her greatest generals, the consuls Lucius Licinius Lucullus and Marcus Aurelius Cotta, were attending to the subjugation of the Eastern kingdom of Bithynia , a recent addition to the Republic. The raids carried out in the Campanian countryside by Spartacus' men fell to local officials to mediate.

These praetors , including Gaius Claudius Glaber and Publius Varinius, underestimated the training and ingenuity of the slave fighters. Glaber thought he could lay siege to the slave redoubt at Vesuvius, but the slaves dramatically rappelled down the mountainside with ropes fashioned from vines, outflanked Glaber's force, and destroyed it. By the winter of 72 B.C., the successes of slave army alarmed Rome to the degree that consular armies were raised to deal with the threat. Crassus Assumes Control Marcus Licinius Crassus was elected praetor and headed to Picenum to put an end to the Spartacan revolt with 10 legions, some 32,000–48,000 trained Roman fighters, plus auxiliary units. Crassus correctly assumed the slaves would head north to the Alps and positioned most of his men to block this escape. Meanwhile, he sent his lieutenant Mummius and two new legions south to pressure the slaves to move north. Mummius had been explicitly instructed not to fight a pitched battle. He, however, had ideas of his own, and when he engaged the slaves in battle, suffered defeat.

Spartacus routed Mummius and his legions. They lost not only men and their arms, but later, when they returned to their commander, the survivors suffered the ultimate Roman military punishment— decimation, by order of Crassus. The men were divided into groups of 10 and then drew lots. The unlucky one in 10 was then killed. Meanwhile, Spartacus turned around and headed towards Sicily , planning to escape on pirate ships, not knowing that the pirates had already sailed away. At the Isthmus of Bruttium, Crassus built a wall to block Spartacus' escape. When the slaves tried to break through, the Romans fought back, killing about 12,000 of the slaves. The End of Spartacus' Revolt Spartacus learned that Crassus' troops were to be reinforced by another Roman army under Pompey , brought back from Spain . In desperation, he and his slaves fled north, with Crassus at their heels. Spartacus' escape route was blocked at Brundisium by a third Roman force recalled from Macedonia. There was nothing left for Spartacus to do but to try to beat Crassus' army in battle.

The Spartacans were quickly surrounded and butchered, although many men escaped into the mountains. Only a thousand Romans died. Six thousand of the fleeing slaves were captured by Crassus' troops and crucified along the Appian Way , from Capua to Rome. Spartacus' body was not found. Because Pompey performed the mopping-up operations, he, and not Crassus, got credit for suppressing the rebellion. The Third Servile War would become a chapter in the struggle between these two great Romans. Both returned to Rome and refused to disband their armies; the two were elected consul in 70 B.C. The Goals of Spartacus' Rebellion Popular culture, including the 1960 film by Stanley Kubrick, has cast the revolt led by Spartacus in political tones, as a rebuke to slavery in the Roman republic. There is no historical material to support this interpretation. Nor is it known whether Spartacus intended for his force to escape Italy for freedom in their homelands, as Plutarch maintains. The historians Appian and Florian wrote that Spartacus intended to march on the capital itself.

Despite the atrocities committed by Spartacus' forces, and the splintering of his host after disagreements among the leaders, the Third Servile War inspired revolutions successful and unsuccessful throughout history, including Toussaint Louverture's march for Haitian independence. Historical Background for Spartacus BACKGROUND VIOLENCE ENTERS POLITICS: 133 BCE: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, a noble plebeian, was elected tribune. He proposed essential land and economic reforms which threatened the wealthy senatorial classes, so he passed these through the Assembly of Tribes. Gracchus was very popular with the masses, so he ran for a second consecutive term as tribune (though this was unconstitutional). A group of senators led an armed band against him in the Assembly and killed him and 300 of his followers. 123-21 BCE: Gaius Sempronius Gracchus (the younger brother of Tiberius) was elected tribune for two successive years; through the Assembly, he increased the power of the equestrian class at the expense of the senators. He also attempted sweeping economic reforms.

Opposition between his followers and the Senate broke into riots and bloodshed, and he died in the violence. The reform efforts of the Gracchi and the opposition these generated in the Senate constituted the foundation of the two political factions, the populares and the optimates . RISE OF THE GENERALS: 107 BCE: Gaius Marius, a plebeian of the equestrian class and a novus homo, was elected consul and was designated by the Assembly of Tribes as general in the African war against the wishes of the Senate. He reorganized the army and successfully concluded several wars. Marius was elected to five consecutive consulships (though this was unconstitutional) and then to a sixth consulship in 100. He became leader of the populares. During this time there was considerable unrest and rioting in Rome. 88 BCE: Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a patrician leader of the optimates, was elected consul and designated by the Senate as general in the war in Asia Minor although the Assembly had given this command to Marius.

Sulla marched his legions into Rome itself to enforce his appointment and to stop the reform legislation of the populares; this was the first time in history that a Roman army marched upon Rome. Sulla outlawed Marius and took up his command in Asia Minor. 86 BCE: Marius returned to Rome and outlawed Sulla; he was elected to his seventh consulship and led a five-day bloodbath against the optimates. Marius, however, died within the year. 82-79 BCE: Sulla returned to Italy with his army and had himself proclaimed dictator. He conducted first proscriptions, in which he posted lists of those condemned to be executed (the Senate had asked him to publish these names with the following plea: We do not ask you to pardon those whom you have destined for destruction; we only want you to relieve the anxiety of those whom you have decided to spare). A large number of Roman aristocrats associated with the populares (520, according to Sorbonne professor Francois Hinard) were proscribed and their property confiscated. Sulla strengthened the power of the Senate, weakened the power of the tribunes, and stopped the grain dole.

He passed a law that no army was to be stationed in or near Romein effect, he banned standing armies in Italyand no general was to lead his army out of the provinces without permission of the Senate. Sulla retired and died in 79. 77-72 BCE: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Pompey the Great, who had been a general under Sulla and celebrated a triumph at the exceptionally young age of 24, took command of the Roman legions in Spain and put down a revolt led by the followers of Marius. REVOLT OF SPARTACUS: The real Spartacus was a freeborn provincial from Thrace, who may have served as an auxiliary in the Roman army in Macedonia. He deserted the army, was outlawed, captured, sold into slavery, and trained at the gladiatorial school of Batiatus in Capua. 73 BCE: Spartacus escaped with 70-80 gladiators, seizing the knives in the cook's shop and a wagon full of weapons. They camped on Vesuvius and were joined by other rural slaves, overrunning the region with much plunder and pillage, although Spartacus apparently tried to restrain them.

His chief aides were gladiators from Gaul, named Crixus and Oenomaus. ( map ) The Senate sent a praetor, Claudius Glaber (his nomen may have been Clodius; his praenomen is unknown), against the rebel slaves with about 3000 raw recruits hastily drafted from the region. They thought they had trapped the rebels on Vesuvius, but Spartacus led his men down the other side of the mountain using vines, fell on the rear of the soldiers, and routed them. Spartacus subsequently defeated two forces of legionary cohorts; he wanted to lead his men across the Alps to escape from Italy, but the Gauls and Germans, led by Crixus, wanted to stay and plunder. They separated from Spartacus, who passed the winter near Thurii in southern Italy. 72 BCE: Spartacus had raised about 70,000 slaves, mostly from rural areas. The Senate, alarmed, finally sent the two consuls (L. Gellius Publicola and Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus), each with two legions, against the rebels.

The Gauls and Germans, separated from Spartacus, were defeated by Publicola, and Crixus was killed. Spartacus defeated Lentulus, and then Publicola; to avenge Crixus, Spartacus had 300 prisoners from these battles fight in pairs to the death. ( map ) At Picenum in central Italy Spartacus defeated the consular armies, then pushed north and defeated the proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul at Mutina. The Alps were now open to the rebels, but again the Gauls and Germans refused to go, so Spartacus returned to southern Italy, perhaps intending to ship to Sicily. In the autumn, when the revolt was at its height and Spartacus had about 120,000 followers, the Senate voted to pass over the consuls and grant imperium to Marcus Licinius Crassus, who had been a praetor in 73 B.C. but currently held no office. Crassus was the wealthiest man in Rome, a noble from an old plebeian family; since he had received very little support from the conservative nobles who dominated the Senate, he had allied himself with the faction of the populares.

Crassus was given six new legions plus the four consular legions. When one of Crassus' legates attacked Spartacus with two legions, against orders, Spartacus roundly defeated them. Crassus decimated the most cowardly cohort, then used his combined forces to defeat Spartacus, who retreated to Rhegium, in the toe of Italy. Spartacus tried to cross the straits into Sicily, but the Cilician pirates betrayed him. Meanwhile, the Senate recalled Pompey and his legions from Spain, and they began the journey overland; Marcus Licinius Lucullus landed in Brundisium in the heel of Italy with his legions from Macedonia. When Spartacus finally fought his way out of the toe of Italy, he could not march to Brundisium and take ship to the east because of the presence of Lucullus. ( map ) 71 BCE: Spartacus started north; some of the Gauls and Germans separated from him and were nearly defeated by Crassus before Spartacus rescued them.

The slaves gained one more minor victory against part of Crassus' forces, but they were finally wiped out by Crassus' legions in a major battle in southern Italy, near the headwaters of the Siler river. It is believed that Spartacus died in this battle; there were so many corpses that his body was never found. The historian Appian reports that 6000 slaves were taken prisoner by Crassus and crucified along the Appian Way from Capua to Rome. As many as 5000 slaves escaped and fled northward, but they were captured by Pompey's army north of Rome as he was marching back from Spain; Pompey subsequently tried to claim the glory of victory from Crassus, although he had not actually participated in any of the battles. The Senate voted Pompey a triumph because of his victory in Spain, but they decreed an ovation (a far less splendid and prestigious parade) for Crassus because his victory had been merely over slaves. There were no political purges or proscriptions after the rebellion was crushed.

70 BCE: Pompey and Crassus were elected consuls, although Pompey was six years too young for the office and had never held any of the lower magistracies. As consuls, they repealed some of the unpopular laws of Sulla and restored the power of the tribunes. Significance of Spartacus: quotation from Erich Gruen, The Last Generation of the Roman Republic (University of California Press, 1974) 20-21: It was not the governing class alone that would react in horror to the prospect of a slave insurrection. Whatever the grievances of men disenfranchised and dispossessed by Sulla, they would have found unthinkable any common enterprise with Thracian or Gallic slaves. It causes no surprise that Marxist historians and writers have idealized Spartacus as a champion of the masses and leader of the one genuine social revolution in Roman history. That, however, is excessive. Spartacus and his companions sought to break the bonds of their own grievous oppression. There is no sign that they were motivated by ideological considerations to overturn the social structure.

The sources make clear that Spartacus endeavored to bring his forces out of Italy toward freedom rather than to reform or reverse Roman society. The achievements of Spartacus are no less formidable for that. The courage, tenacity, and ability of the Thracian gladiator who held Roman forces at bay for some two years and built a handful of followers into an assemblage of over 120,000 men can only inspire admiration. The Roman reaction was tardy and ineffective. . . . Error of judgment induced the Senate to treat the uprising too lightly at the outset. By the time Rome took firm steps, Spartacus' ranks had considerably swelled and the state's finest soldiers were serving abroad. But Crassus' efforts obtained full support, and the revolt was wiped out in 71.

Characters in Film with a Recorded Historical Existence: Marcus Licinius Crassus (Lawrence Olivier) Marcus Publius Glabrus [real name was Claudius Glaber] (John Dall) Gaius Julius Caesar (John Gavin) Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinovwon Academy Award for best supporting actor) Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) Spartacus & Roman Gladiators | Kansas City Public Library The Westport Branch will be closed from January 17 – 19 to upgrade our checkout system. Read more about why we're doing this » Spartacus & Roman Gladiators Spartacus & Roman Gladiators Tuesday, March 24, 2009 11:03 am Spartacus, a Roman gladiator and slave, led a slave uprising against Rome in 73 B.C. Learn more about his dramatic history or explore the world of gladiators in these books at the library. The Spartacus War (nonfiction) By Barry Strauss From an esteemed historian of the ancient world and popular guest on The History Channel comes the true story of the gladiator Spartacus, who led a slave rebellion that rocked and nearly destroyed the Roman Republic.

Spartacus (feature film, 1960) A gladiator slave leads a revolt in decadent Rome in this film directed by Stanley Kubrick that won four Academy Awards. Gladiators The Gladiators: History's Most Deadly Sport (nonfiction) By Fik Meijer Superfit, muscled, and macho, gladiators were hero-worshipped for their skills and courage as they fought to the death, yet despised for their humble status. For over six cruel centuries, tens of thousands died in the blood soaked arenas of Rome and its colonies, watched by enthralled crowds screaming for violence. Professor Fik Meijer has pieced together their true stories from contemporary evidence, describing the gladiators' origins, daily life, training, and the odds of their survival pitted against their legions of fans' lust for blood and spectacle. The Gladiator: The Secret History of Rome's Warrior Slaves (nonfiction) By Alan Baker This thrilling popular history of ancient Rome's gladiators charts the evolution of the games; introduces us to the legendary fighters, trainers, and emperors who participated in the violent sport; and re-creates in gripping detail a day at the bloody games.

Alan Baker reveals the techniques of the training school, then sets us ringside to witness the torturous battles between bulls, lions, jaguars, and battle-hardened human beings. The World of the Gladiator (nonfiction) By Susanna Shadrake The gladiatorial contest was the high point of the bloody sports witnessed in Rome's Colosseum and in other amphitheatres throughout the Roman Empire. This popular book explores all aspects of gladiatorial life--its beginnings under the Republic; the organization of the spectacle; the day-to-day-life of a gladiator; a typical show from start to finish; the equipment, weapons and armor used; the symbolic role of the gladiator in society; and the fascination of the gladiatorial spectacle within a 21st-century context. Gladiator (feature film, 2000) When general Maximus (Russell Crowe) is chosen by Emperor Aurelius (Richard Harris), a jealous Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) kills Maximus' family. Maximus is enslaved to fight in the gladiatorial arenas, while he plots his revenge against Commodus. Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

Books by Barry Strauss The Trojan War: A New History By Barry Strauss Based on the latest archeological research and written by a leading expert on ancient military history, the true story of the most famous battle in history is every bit as compelling as Homer's epic account, and confirms many of its details. The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter that Saved Greece--and Western Civilization By Barry Strauss A scholar who has reexamined the original sources for this stirring narrative presents an exciting, perceptive work of military history and a shrewd analysis of the cultural differences between and within the contending Persian and Greek factions. Spartacus: Gladiator War TV Show: News, Videos, Full Episodes and More | TVGuide.com Spartacus: Gladiator War 2006 | TV Show Watchlist Profiling Spartacus, the gladiator who led a slave revolt against Rome from 73 to 71 B.C. and whose story was dramatized in Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film starring Kirk Douglas.

In this hour, re-creations follow the onetime Roman soldier and 70 or so other es (more…) Profiling Spartacus, the gladiator who led a slave revolt against Rome from 73 to 71 B.C. and whose story was dramatized in Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film starring Kirk Douglas. In this hour, re-creations follow the onetime Roman soldier and 70 or so other escapees from a gladiator school. At first, this ragtag band “doesn't have much choice except to fight dirty,” says historian Crispin Swayne. But guerrilla victories swell his army to 100,000, and it will take Rome two years to stop him.

Premiered: April 10, 2006 Your Rating:Rate this TV Show: Overview Spartacus: History of Gladiator Revolt Leader Spartacus: History of Gladiator Revolt Leader By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | September 17, 2013 10:28pm ET MORE Credit: pseudolongino / Shutterstock.com Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator who led a slave revolt with an army numbering in the tens of thousands. He defeated Roman forces over half a dozen times, marching his people up and down the Italian peninsula until he was killed in battle in April 71 B.C. A favorite character in popular fiction, he was not crucified, and there was no “I’m Spartacus!” moment as seen in the famous 1960 Stanley Kubrick film. Also, while Spartacus was a real person who has inspired revolutionaries and filmmakers, scholars do not have an abundant amount of information about him. Accounts from only about a dozen ancient writers survive to this day, and none of the surviving reports was written by Spartacus or one of his supporters.

This is Spartacus According to the surviving sources, Spartacus was from Thrace, an area in southeast Europe that the Romans were often trying to subjugate during the first century B.C.. He appears to have served in a Roman auxiliary unit for a time, deserted and became either a bandit or insurgent against the Romans. At some point he was captured, brought to Rome and sold as a slave to a man referred to at times as “Vatia.” This man owned a gladiator school in Capua, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) southeast of Rome. While at the school, Spartacus helped organize a breakout that led to more than 70 gladiators escaping armed with knives, cleavers and other makeshift weapons they got from the kitchen. One of the people Spartacus escaped with was his wife, a Thracian woman whose name is lost to history.

The writer Plutarch, who lived in the second century A.D., wrote that she “was a prophetess who was possessed by ecstatic frenzies that were part of the worship of the god Dionysus.” After Spartacus woke up with a snake coiled around his head “she declared that this was the sign of a tremendous and fearsome power that would bring him to an unfortunate end” (translation by Brent Shaw, from the book "Spartacus and the Slave Wars: Brief History with Documents," Bedford/St.Martins, 2001). First fight Spartacus and his small band of escapees acquired gladiator weapons from a passing cart and made their way to Mount Vesuvius . This was more than a century before it erupted and, in Spartacus’ time, the mountain was actually covered with vines and had fertile farmland nearby. On their way, Spartacus and his co-leaders, Crixus and Oenomaus, raided for supplies and recruited slaves in the countryside. Rome did not respond to Spartacus’ growing force seriously. At the time of his breakout, the Republic’s military was fighting in Spain, southeast Europe and Crete.

Furthermore, a group of escaped slaves were not seen as posing a serious challenge to Roman soldiers. The Romans despatched a praetor named Gaius Claudius Glaber to form an army to crush the slaves. This man, and another person named Publius Valerius, whom they despatched later, “did not command the regular citizen army of legions, but rather whatever forces they could hastily conscript on the spot,” wrote Appian, a writer who also lived in the second century A.D. (translation by Brent Shaw). Glaber’s ad-hoc army didn’t even try to attack Spartacus. Instead, they blocked off the main route up Vesuvius, pitched camp and tried to starve him out. Spartacus took the initiative, having his newly liberated slaves build rope out of wild vines so they could move down the mountainside to a spot the Roman had neglected to defend. The Romans, still in camp, never saw them coming. The “slaves were able to surround them and to shock the Romans with a surprise attack. When the Romans fled, the slaves seized their camp,” Plutarch wrote. This success resulted in new recruits flocking to the force of Spartacus.

“At this point, many of the herdsmen and shepherds from the surrounding regions — hard-bodied and swift-footed men — came to join the slaves.” The growth of Spartacus’s force was aided by other factors. Throughout his rebellion, his army spent much of its time in rural areas and small towns, places that were poorly defended but had an abundance of slaves. Additionally, according to ancient sources, Spartacus insisted on equally dividing the spoils, something that made recruitment all the more easier. In time, he even succeeded in getting non-slaves to join his rebellion. “They were able to build such a formidable force in part because many freedmen and other free commoners joined their ranks along with thousands of fugitive slaves,” writes historian Michael Parenti in an essay published in the book "Spartacus: Film and History" (Blackwell, 2006). Serious opposition Spartacus continued to ambush and defeat Roman units while freeing slaves in the countryside and gathering supplies. Back in Rome, the senate grew impatient and sent a large army led by the consuls Lucius Gellius Publicola and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus. Each man may have commanded 10,000 troops.

By the spring of 72 B.C., Spartacus may have had 40,000 troops, some of which stayed in south Italy with his co-leader Crixus while the remainder advanced towards the Alps under the command of Spartacus. This did not work out well for the rebels. The Roman force under Gellius caught up with Crixus, killing the leader along with many of his rebels. Gellius then proceeded to advance on Spartacus from the south while Lentulus, who was apparently ahead of Spartacus, drove in from the north. Spartacus was trapped between two armies likely equipped with better arms and armor then he had. But one thing neither commander appears to have counted on was that Spartacus had built up a sizable cavalry force in the preceding months. Thracians were known to be good horseman, able to tame even wild horses. “Spartacus suddenly rushed at them and engaged them in battle. He defeated Lentulus’ legates and captured all of their supplies,” Plutarch writes. Gellius was then either defeated by Spartacus or forced to retreat. Spartacus had not only escaped the trap but had mauled the Roman army, allowing his troops to march to the Alps.

An Alpine mystery After defeating another Roman force, this one led by a Roman governor named Gaius Cassius Longinus, Spartacus’s force was now free to climb the Alps and go to Gaul, Thrace or other areas not controlled by Rome. However, for reasons lost to history, Spartacus chose not to do this, instead turning his force around and heading back into Italy. Why he did this is a mystery. “Many theories have been proposed, but the best explanation was already hinted at in the ancient sources. Spartacus’s own men probably vetoed him,” writes Barry Strauss, a Classics professor at Cornell University, in his book The Spartacus War (Simon & Schuster, 2009). “In the past, they had never wanted to leave Italy; now success might have gone to their heads and aroused visions of Rome in flames.” He notes that other factors may also have been involved. Spartacus may have received news of Roman advances in Thrace that made him doubt that he and the other Thracians in his army could return home safely. “The last straw might simply have been the sight of the Alps.

As anyone who has ever looked up from the plain toward the rock wall of the Italian Alps knows, the mountains are overpowering,” writes Strauss. Whatever the reasons were Spartacus led his army back south, through Italy, overcoming resistance along the way, until they arrived at the Strait of Messina, in hopes that they could cross over to Sicily, an island of agriculture and slaves waiting to be liberated. Betrayed by pirates While the Strait of Messina is small, being only two miles (3.2 kilometers) wide at some points, Spartacus had several problems crossing it. He had reached the strait in the winter of 72-71 BC, a time when the weather was colder. Additionally the Roman governor of Sicily, Gaius Verres, had fortified some of the best landing spots. Spartacus needed two things, good boats and good sailors, to be able to land an advance party of his troops across the strait. He turned to a group of “Cilician pirates” (as Plutarch called them) who frequented the area and, who Strauss notes, were equipped with speedy boats and navigational knowledge, things Spartacus needed to make the crossing successfully.

The pirates, however, had other plans. “Although the Cilicians made an agreement with Spartacus and accepted his gifts, they deceived him and sailed away,” wrote Plutarch. Whether the pirates had been bribed by the Romans, or just didn’t want to be involved, is not known. Undeterred Spartacus ordered his troops to assemble boats of their own and, while they succeeded in building a number of them, their attempt to cross the strait failed, leaving his troops stuck on the Italian mainland. This left Spartacus with no choice but to take his force north to face a Roman leader more ruthless than any he had encountered before. Crassus By the time Spartacus had reached the straits a new leader named Marcus Licinius Crassus had taken command of the Roman forces. Strauss notes that he was a wealthy individual, able to raise a large army and pay them, at least in part, out of his own pocket.

In his business dealings Plutarch said that he had a scheme where “he bought up the burning properties and the buildings in the neighborhood of those alight, as the owners would surrender them for a small sum of money out of fear and uncertainty.” (Translation from Roman Social History: A Sourcebook, Routledge, 2007). In his military life he was even more ruthless. Among his forces were the remnants of legions belonging to Gellius and Lentulus that had been previously defeated by Spartacus. As a consequence “Crassus selected every tenth man from the consular legions by lot and had him executed,” wrote Appian. He also revived a practice called “decimation” where units that ran away from the enemy would draw lots and have a random number of soldiers killed by being clubbed or stoned to death. Needless to say discipline tightened under Crassus. Still, knowing that many of Rome’s best soldiers were outside Italy, he proceeded carefully when moving against Spartacus. Rather than try and openly battle Spartacus in southern Italy he built a system of fortifications centred on the Melia Ridge in an effort to trap Spartacus and starve his troops.

Spartacus responded to the situation by offering Crassus a peace treaty which Crassus swiftly rejected. Perhaps seeing his own soldiers beginning to waver Spartacus stiffened their resolve by crucifying a Roman soldier where all could see. It served “as a visual demonstration to his own men of what would happen to them if they did not win,” wrote Appian. Spartacus eventually managed to break through Crassus’s trap by filling in one his trenches (allegedly with human bodies) and using his cavalry to punch through. While Spartacus escaped Crassus’s trap he faced serious consequences. Ancient writers say that he lost thousands of soldiers in the break out. Furthermore a split emerged in the rebel camp. A dissident group led by Castus and Gannicus, which included many Celtic and German troops, broke away from Spartacus and set off on their own. Additionally Crassus’s force was still largely intact while another force, led by Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus, was about to land at Brundisium and a third force, led by Pompey, was on its way to Italy from Spain. Spartacus’s force was now divided and increasingly surrounded and the stage was set for the final battle.

The end of Spartacus In the spring of 71 BC things fell apart for Spartacus. Castus and Gannicus were defeated by Crassus, likely sometime before April, at the Battle of Cantenna. Spartacus was now isolated further. After the battle at Cantenna he received news that Lucullus’s force had landed at Brundisium, crushing the hopes the rebels had for getting out of Italy by using that port. What happened next is hard to explain. Spartacus could have tried for another port, or another part of Italy. His force was not completely trapped and he likely had at least 30,000 troops able to fight. But, for reasons we do not know, he decided to turn around and attack Crassus. Whether Spartacus really wanted this, or whether his men decided this for him, is not known. The final battle took place in April 71 BC. Strauss says that we cannot be sure where it was fought but it was likely somewhere in the Upper Silarus Valley.

Spartacus’s strategy appears to have been two-fold, use his cavalry to attack Crassus’s archers and missile throwers while Spartacus would lead his infantry in an attempt to kill Crassus himself, hoping to break up his army. Crassus built trenches to block Spartacus’s cavalry prompting a wild melee when Spartacus’s men jumped in and tried to stop their construction. Eventually Spartacus lined up his men for battle and Crassus his. Plutarch wrote that, just before the battle, Spartacus got off his horse, killed the beast, and told his men that “if he won the battle, he would have many fine horses that belonged to the enemy, but if he lost he would have no need of a horse.” The battle went poorly. Spartacus’s cavalry was apparently unable to reach Crassus’s missile throwers and archers. Undeterred Spartacus, at the head of his troops, and on foot, led a charge aimed at Crassus himself. Spartacus is said to have hacked down two centurions in this final attempt, however it was in vain. There are varying accounts about Spartacus’s death but they all end with him being surrounded and killed.

With his death his army fell apart and Crassus and the other Roman forces hunted down the remaining rebels. The body of Spartacus was apparently never identified. Strauss points out that he had killed his horse before the battle and probably did not embellish his armor. “Spartacus’s final struggle might have left only the badly disfigured body of a soldier dressed in ordinary armor.”He was likely buried in a mass grave with the rest of his troops. Even if archaeologists do find it someday they likely would be unable to distinguish the famous commander from that of his troops. While Spartacus’s uprising was ultimately crushed his memory lives on, more so than the Romans who fought against, or otherwise opposed, him. “Who, today, remembers Crassus? Pompey? Even Cicero is not so well remembered,” writes Strauss. On the other hand “everyone has heard of Spartacus.” » See all Spartacus Articles Spartacus summary: Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator. Little is known about his life before he became one of the slave leaders in the Third Servile War, the slave uprising war against the Roman Republic. Spartacus may have served in the Roman Army.

It is generally believed he deserted, and some sources say he led bandit raids. What is known is that he was captured and sold into slavery. In 73 BC (BCE) he escaped from a gladiatorial training school at Capua along with some 70 other gladiators. Other runaway slaves soon joined them. Taking refuge on Mount Vesuvius, the gladiators trained the others in at least rudimentary combat skills. Spartacus is believed to have been the leader of the gladiators’ revolt, and he shared leadership of the slave army with two Gauls, Crixus and Oenamus. Initially, Rome did not regard the slave army as a serious force and did not send first-line troops against it; Spartacus’ army outmaneuvered and defeated the first four forces it confronted. More slaves joined; at its peak, the army is believed to have been 90,000–120,000 strong. Spartacus advocated crossing the Alps to put distance between the army and Rome and find freedom. One of his co-commanders, Crixus, wanted to attack Rome itself, where large numbers of slaves would likely swell their ranks even more.

Crixus broke off from the main force, taking 30,000 men with him and began raiding the countryside until he was defeated and killed. Spartacus won three more engagements and then, for unknown reasons, turned south instead of crossing the Alps, throwing Rome into panic. A new Roman military force, under a competent commander named Marcus Crassus, was sent to deal with the rebellious slave army. After a long period of pursuit and a few engagements, the slave army was defeated near the headwaters of the Siler River in southern Italy. Spartacus was killed, but his body was never found. Some 6,000 rebellious slaves were crucified as a warning to others. The story of Spartacus has served as inspiration for books, movies and a television series. He has often been made into a symbol for oppressed people rebelling to overturn their society, but in point of fact he tried to lead his army to safety and freedom for themselves outside Rome’s reach and never attempted to overthrow Roman society. Featured Article About Spartacus From History Net Magazines Ancient History: Spartacus and the Slave Rebellion By Kenneth P.

Czech Rome trembled at the grave rumors in 73 bc that the city was about to be attacked by a rabble army of gladiators and rebelling slaves. The vaunted Roman legions had been defeated, their noble standards captured. News of atrocities against slaveholding landowners dominated conversation in Rome’s marketplaces and public buildings. The very name of the slave rebellion’s leader, Spartacus, generated terror. Slave insurrections were not really new to Rome. Extreme cruelty to slaves had sparked a revolt on the island of Sicily in 135 bc. More than 70,000 slaves had taken up arms and effectively battled local militia until a Roman army triumphed over the rebels two years later. A second servile war erupted on the island in 104 bc, when 40,000 slaves rampaged through its farmlands. After four years of bloody fighting, the last remnants of that rebel horde were captured by Roman consul Manius Aquillius and shipped to Rome to fight wild beasts in the arena. But those revolts had been in far-off Sicily. The new insurrection threatened Rome itself, a city where a great percentage of the inhabitants were slaves.

To make matters worse, several legions had already been demolished by the slave army. Read More in Military History Magazine Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!! Forming the nucleus of the threat were gladiators–prisoners of war, convicts and slaves specially trained to fight and kill one another as entertainment for crowds packing amphitheaters throughout Latin lands. Notoriously tough and highly skilled, the gladiators surging toward Rome had little to lose. Facing death in the arena on an almost daily basis, these warrior-slaves felt their only key to freedom lay in crushing Rome itself. Combats between trained warriors had first surfaced to commemorate funerals during the First Punic War in 264 bc. In 174 bc, 74 gladiators fought each other during a three-day span as part of special funeral ceremonies for wealthy Romans. The first officially sponsored gladiatorial ‘games were held nearly 70 years later, and they were an instant success with the public. As the Roman appetite for blood sports grew, thousands of prisoners captured in Rome’s numerous wars of conquest were trundled off to specially constructed training centers, or schools, to prepare them for the games.

The gladiators took their name from the Latin word gladius, the short sword favored by many of the combatants. Early gladiators were outfitted with an ornately wrought visored helmet, a shield and an armored sleeve worn on the right arm, after the fashion of Samnite warriors defeated by Rome in the late 3rd century bc. Samnite-style gladiators relied on their swords. Other gladiator styles evolved from the national themes of the lands conquered by Rome. Thracian-style gladiators, for instance, carried a sica–a curved, short-bladed scimitar–and a round buckler. Gaul-style gladiators wielded long swords and rectangular or oval shields. Another gladiator type, more exotically accoutered and called retiarius, fought with a trident, a dagger and a fishing net strung to the wrist by a thong and designed to ensnare an opponent and draw him into harpooning range. Pairing the warriors was done by drawing lots. Mercy was rarely offered in the arena, with crowds often controlling the immediate fortunes of a wounded gladiator by signaling or calling for life or death.

While several noted Roman writers applauded the games as invigorating spectacles, the writer-philosopher Seneca abhorred them, commenting: I come home more greedy, more cruel and inhuman, because I have been among human beings….Man, a sacred thing to man, is killed for sport and merriment. A number of gladiator training schools sprang up throughout Italy, concentrated near the town of Capua, north of present-day Naples. At such schools, gladiators received training in a variety of weapons, though they usually specialized in one. Diets were carefully observed, and a strict exercise regimen was maintained. Discipline and punishment were harsh. It may have been pure brutality that convinced 78 gladiators to rebel at the school of Lentulus Batiatus, near Capua, in 73 bc. The gladiators, who had been severely treated, sallied from their quarters and overpowered their guards with cleavers and spits seized from some kitchen, reported Roman historian Plutarch. After scrambling over the school’s walls, the slaves were fortunate to find a wagon transporting gladiators’ weapons to another city.

Armed with these familiar–if not military-issue–weapons, the little band had suddenly become a dangerous fighting force. Masterminding the revolt, according to the sources, was Spartacus, a Thracian by birth who may even have once served as an auxiliary in the Roman army before being sold into slavery. Sharing command were two Gauls: Crixus and Oenamus. The triumvirate raided the countryside, terrorizing landowners in the lush Campania farming district. Field hands and house slaves, many armed with farm tools and kitchen utensils, declared their own freedom by joining the gladiators. As word of the insurrection spread, Spartacus led his force up the slopes of the dormant volcano Vesuvius. Close on his heels was a hastily assembled army of 3,000 militia under the command of Clodius Glaber. Poorly trained and untested, the militia was usually sent to control riots or outbreaks of brigandage, while the solid legions of the regular army were used primarily in foreign conquests. Glaber deployed his troops at the base of Vesuvius and blocked the sole road leading to its crest.

In his mind, the gladiators were effectively cut off from the plains and could be starved into submission. Not about to be besieged, however, Spartacus ordered his men to hack the abundant vines growing near the crest and fashion them into crude ladders. After sunset, the slaves descended on their ladders and fell upon the few sentries Glaber had bothered to post. In minutes, the gladiators were slashing their way through the slumbering Roman camp, routing the militia and seizing valuable stocks of military arms and armor. Read More in Military History Magazine Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!! Two legions of militia under the command of the praetor Publius Varinius then were dispatched from Rome to track the insurgents and bring them to justice. Unknown to the Romans, the gladiators’ army had swollen to nearly 40,000, including bands of shepherds who were familiar with the countryside and acted as scouts. Lacking knowledge of the terrain, Varinius was further hampered by disease brought on by damp autumn weather–and by an outbreak of insubordination among his own troops. Perhaps even worse was his own refusal to consider the slaves a serious fighting force.

Spartacus was determined to crush the Romans. Near Vesuvius, he surprised an advance column of 2,000 men under Varinius’ lieutenant Furius and annihilated it. Using his scouts to good advantage, the gladiator discovered another party of Romans under Cossinius at a camp and bath near Herculaneum. In a swirling battle, Spartacus nearly captured Cossinius, then pursued him as he fled. The Roman and the remnants of his column were brought to bay and slaughtered. Slipping southward, Spartacus’ army continued to grow. Varinius trailed him into Lucania, where he suddenly found the rebels deployed in battle formation. The insubordination that had plagued Varinius earlier now flared up once more. Some soldiers refused to advance, while others fled. The Roman praetor (a magistrate next below the rank of consul) continued his attack but was badly mauled. Varinius escaped, though his horse and his official standards and insignia were seized, adding to the Roman humiliation. Captured legionaries were forced to fight each other as gladiators or were crucified, just as some Romans crucified captured slaves.

Spartacus and his army marched north, reoccupying Campania and destroying a Roman corps under Gaius Thoranius that had been left there by Varinius to restore order. Spartacus undoubtedly realized that his ragtag force had been lucky so far. It had defeated several Roman forces, but the rebels had not yet faced the rugged veterans of wars in Spain, Gaul and Germany. The Thracian advocated marching his horde to the Alps to escape from Rome’s long reach. Unfortunately for the slaves, another faction, this one led by the Gaul Crixus, was full of confidence after helping to crush the Roman militia and argued that Rome itself should be attacked. Taking as many as 30,000 men, including a contingent of German and Gallic gladiators, Crixus broke with Spartacus to plunder neighboring villages and towns. No longer considering the gladiator uprising as a mere outbreak of brigandage, the Roman senate decided to send two more armies against the slaves in the spring of 72 bc. Commanded by the consuls Lucius Gellius and Gnaeus Lentulus, four Roman legions took to the field.

It was relatively easy to follow the trail left by Crixus and his band as they levied tribute in the Apulia region at the heel of the Italian peninsula. Gellius sent two legions under his praetor Quintus Arrius to hem in the gladiators against the coast. Surprised by the Romans near Mount Garganus, Crixus found himself surrounded. Despite furious fighting, the Gaul and two-thirds of his army were cut down. Spartacus, meantime, had made good use of his winter respite while camped in the Appenines. His men scoured the area, raiding estates and towns, particularly in search of horses. The slave leader hoped to build and train a cavalry unit to be his eyes as his rabble marched toward the Alps. Towns such as Consentia and Metapontum were stormed, their newly released slaves joining ranks with Spartacus and swelling the army to more than 70,000. Any freed slaves capable of bearing arms received rudimentary training. In the spring of 72 bc, the gladiator army trekked northward, pursued by the consuls and their legions.

In three separate engagements, Spartacus first defeated Lentulus, who had attempted to surround the slaves, and then both Gellius and the praetor Arrius, who had recently slain Crixus and his Gauls. At Mutina in the Cisalpine Gaul region of northern Italy, the governor, Caius Cassius, futilely attempted to stem the slaves’ trek with an army of 10,000 men. Spartacus’ horde collapsed Cassius’ center, slaying many of the legionaries, and Cassius barely escaped with his life. To appease the ghost of Crixus, 300 Romans were sacrificed or forced to fight each other as gladiators. With Cassius’ army demolished, the path to freedom over the Alps now lay clear. Surprisingly, Spartacus chose to lead his slaves back into Italy. Perhaps a contingent of his gladiators preferred looting the peninsula as Crixus had, and Spartacus may have feared that a further division of his force could be disastrous if Roman legions pursued them and forced them into battle. He may have even entertained the idea of raiding Rome, the source of enslavement of so many peoples.

For whatever reasons, the Thracian led his mob southward. Rome was beside itself with anxiety. The gladiator army was estimated at between 75,000 and 125,000. With the losses of the various legions, the city was short of available troops and able commanders. The most experienced generals, such as Quintus Metellus and Gnaeus Pompey, were stationed with their battle-hardened legions in rebellious Spain, while Lucius Lucullus kept an eye on troublesome Asia Minor. For the moment, only poorly trained local levies remained to defend Rome. The Roman senate finally gave supreme military command to the praetor Marcus Crassus, the only man who offered to take the post. A multimillionaire, Crassus had built his fortune through astute real estate deals. More important, he had gained valuable experience while serving under the command of the great Roman general Sulla, who died in 78 bc. Crassus inherited the remnants of the legions of Publius Varinius that had fled the battlefield in their earlier disastrous engagement with the gladiators, in addition to several newly raised legions.

News then reached the Romans that Spartacus was marching through Picenum, along Italy’s central Adriatic coast. Crassus ordered his lieutenant Mummius to lead two of the new legions in a circle behind the slave rabble, but, as Plutarch notes, not to join battle nor even skirmish with them. Unfortunately for Crassus, Mummius unwisely attacked the gladiators from the rear, obviously thinking that he would have the advantage of surprise. In the ensuing melee, many of the legionaries were slain, and hundreds of others broke rank and fled. Crassus was livid with anger. Assembling the shattered remains of Mummius’ legions, he ordered 500 men accused of cowardice to be divided into 50 groups of 10 each. Lots were drawn in each group, with one unlucky soldier chosen for execution. The entire army was forced to witness the deaths of their comrades as warning to any others who considered disobedience. With discipline re-established, the new general proceeded to retrain and rearm his troops. Each soldier became proficient in the use of the short-bladed gladius, ideal for either thrusting or slashing.

In addition, the Roman levies were drilled in the use of the pilum, an iron-headed spear whose metal neck, extending to a wooden shaft, would snap downward after hitting an object to prevent its being thrown back by an enemy. The legions were also divided into regiments, called cohorts, of 480 men each and were instructed how to maneuver on the field of battle. A complete legion stood ready for action with roughly 5,000 men. Read More in Military History Magazine Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!! With eight new legions under his command, Crassus pursued Spartacus the length of Italy, getting the best of him in a running battle in the Lucania region in the south. Stung, the gladiator army limped through Bruttium on the toe of the Italian peninsula, finally reaching the coastal city of Rhegium across the Strait of Messina from Sicily. Spartacus managed to contact Sicilian pirates, paying them handsomely from gold and treasure looted from countless estates to ferry thousands of his men to Sicily, where he hoped to rekindle the slave rebellion that had erupted there barely a generation earlier. The pirates, however, deceived the rebels.

They accepted the payment but failed to take their fleet to the approved rendezvous. For the moment, the gladiator army was literally left high and dry on the Bruttium peninsula. Crassus, in the meantime, realized he had the slaves trapped. Rather than face the cornered gladiators in a pitched battle, he ordered his legions to construct a wall completely across the peninsula to hem in the enemy and starve them into submission. The legionaries excavated a ditch 15 feet deep and wide across the 32-mile distance, then fashioned a wood and stone wall along one edge of the ditch. Spartacus, for a time, ignored the Roman wall. He desperately searched for some other means to transport his army but could not devise one. With winter setting in and supplies running low, he determined his only recourse was to smash through the barricade across the peninsula. The Thracian waited for a snowy night and a wintery storm, noted Plutarch, when he filled up a small portion of the ditch with earth and timber and the boughs of trees, and battered his way through. With the freed gladiators once more tramping toward Lucania, Rome panicked.

The senate authorized the return of Pompey from Spain and Lucullus from his recent wars with Mithridates to bolster the legions of Crassus. Fearing the glory of subduing the gladiators would be won by those political rivals, Crassus redoubled his efforts. Fortunately for the Romans, the gladiators were once again weakened by internal squabbling. Two more Gauls, Ganicus and Cestus, broke away from the main army to plunder area villages and estates. Encamped at the Lucanian Lake, this splinter band was surprised by Crassus and his legions. With no retreat possible, the gladiators fought with the desperate fury of cornered men. More than 12,000 rebels fell in the battle before Spartacus arrived to rescue the survivors. Pursued by the Romans, Spartacus led his army to the mountains of Petelia. Several legions under Crassus’ lieutenants Scrophas and Quintus harassed the slaves by making several daring attacks on their rear. Suddenly Spartacus wheeled his force about and fell on the Romans.

In the furious battle that followed, Scrophas was wounded, and his legionaries barely managed to drag him to safety. The defeat became a rout, as Romans streamed away by the score. News reached the slaves that Pompey and Lucullus had been dispatched with their legions and were at that moment marching to put an end to the insurrection. Spartacus advised his followers to continue their retreat through the Petelian heights, but many of his officers advocated heading south to Apulia to reach the seaport of Brundisium on the heel of the Italian peninsula. There, it was hoped, they could capture merchant ships in a desperate escape attempt. With the legions of his political rivals rapidly approaching, Crassus was determined to bring Spartacus to a decisive battle. His legions hounded the gladiators as they fled southward. Stragglers were rapidly picked off and executed. When word reached him that Lucullus had landed at Brundisium and was marching inland, Crassus knew he had the Thracian at his mercy. Spartacus found himself trapped between the two armies, with the legions of Pompey still on their way.

Drawing his force up to face Crassus, the weaker of the two opponents. Spartacus commanded that his horse should be brought to him. Drawing his sword, the slave leader stabbed the animal to show his men that there would be no further retreat–only victory or death. Sweeping forward in a wave of humanity, the slaves sought to overwhelm the Romans by sheer numbers. Seeing Crassus through the confusion, Spartacus fought to reach the Roman general. With weapons flying around him, the Thracian nearly reached his goal, slaying two centurions in individual combat before being surrounded by the enemy. Ancient Roman sources agree that although he was severely wounded, he continued to wield his spear and shield until the Romans swarmed over him and a small contingent of bodyguards. The Roman victory was complete. Almost the entire gladiator army was annihilated, its remnants scattering to the nearby hills. Although Crassus was accorded the victory, his own decimated legions were unable to track down all the fugitives. That dubious honor was left to Pompey, who had recently arrived on the scene. Rebel slaves were hunted without mercy throughout southern Italy, many of them fighting until they were cut down by the legions.

More than 6,000 captured slaves, according to Appian, were crucified along the whole road from Capua to Rome. The Spartacus rebellion was the last of the major slave insurrections that Rome would experience. The fear engendered by the revolt, however, would haunt the Roman psyche for centuries to come. During the reign of Nero (54-68 ad), panic erupted when gladiators at Praeneste attempted a breakout. Their army guards overpowered them before the revolt could spread, according to one historian, but the Roman public, as always terrified or fascinated by revolution, were already talking of ancient calamities such as the rising of Spartacus. Gladiator games, in spite of the dangers posed by strong-willed warriors such as Spartacus, continued to grow in popularity. The Roman public became so thirsty for the spectacle that politicians often sponsored elaborate games to win votes. During the Emperor Trajan’s rule, 4,941 pairs of gladiators saw combat through 117 days of festivities. By the time the games peaked in the 4th century ad, 175 days a year were devoted to the sport.

Spartacus the Gladiator Biography – Life of Slave Revolt Leader Wars Third Servile War Spartacus (c. 109-71 B.C.) was a gladiator from Thrace, most famous as a leader in a major slave revolt. This uprising against the Roman Republic, commonly referred to as the Third Servile War, saw Spartacus joined by a number of Gauls in fighting against Roman dominance. Although relatively little is known about him beyond his role in the war, it is generally believed that he was a gladiator and that his military leadership was impressive. Early Life All the major contemporary sources for the life of Spartacus agree that he was a Thracian. Plutarch adds that he came from a Nomadic stock. The historian Appian states that Spartacus had at one time fought in the Roman army itself but later found himself imprisoned and enslaved. As a consequence, he was sold as a gladiator. According to Florus, the reasons for his enslavement included both robbery and desertion from the army, although further details are unknown. It is thought that Spartacus came from the Maedi tribe, a people who inhabited the far southwestern part of Thrace, close to the border with Macedonia.

His wife was a seer with the tribe, and according to Plutarch she was enslaved along with her husband. Spartacus’ name itself was not particularly unusual for a man from the area by the Black Sea, with a number of local kings having borne similar names, such as “Sparta” or “Sparadokos.” Spartacus the Slave After his enslavement, Spartacus trained at the gladiators’ camp close to Capua. By 73 B.C., it is known that he was beginning to plot a break-out, along with a number of his comrades. Although a large-scale escape was foiled when the plan was betrayed, a few dozen men did manage to escape, using kitchen knives as weapons. They eluded the men sent to recapture them, and after gaining recruits and plunder from the surrounding countryside, established a fortified position close to Mount Vesuvius. Spartacus was chosen as one of the leaders by the escaped gladiators, along with Denomaus and Crixus, two Gaulish slaves. It is not entirely certain how command within the group operated, and the positions of the two Gaulish leaders as they related to that of Spartacus himself is unclear.

It is possible that Roman sources tended to project their own view of military hierarchy when writing of the events of the revolt. The Roman Response The Empire was unable to respond as quickly and decisively as it might have liked, since the legions were occupied with putting down a Spanish rebellion and dealing with the Third Mithridatic War. In any case, Rome considered Spartacus’s revolt to be little more of a side-issue rather than a true problem. As such, only a militia force was sent. They sieged the rebellious slaves’ encampment, hoping to starve them out. Instead, Spartacus led his men down an almost sheer cliff and went around the back of the Romans, attacking them from their undefended rear and killing the majority of them. A second Roman expeditionary force was also well beaten by the slaves, who killed the commander’s lieutenants and seized a substantial amount of military hardware. By now, the rebellion was so impressive that it found it quite easy to recruit more slaves to its cause. Even some of the local small farmers decided to join the revolt, and at their peak Spartacus’ troops numbered more than 70,000.

Tactical Ability Spartacus had by now shown that he possessed considerable tactical acumen. Even though most of the slaves had no military experience at all, they were able to make good use of their unorthodox nature. By the early part of 72 B.C., they were frequently launching raiding parties as far afield as the towns of Nola and Thurii. At this point, the slave force had been split into two groups, one commanded by Crixus and one by Spartacus. That spring, the slave force marched north, and the Senate – rattled by previous failures – sent two full legions to the area. At first the Romans had some success, defeating Crixus’s force of 30,000 men near Mount Garganus. However, Spartacus himself quickly revenged his partner’s failure and managed to defeat the legions himself. By now, Rome was becoming alarmed by the snowballing strength of the slave rebellion, and gave the hugely wealthy Marcus Licinius Crassus the task of putting it down. The Third Servile War Crassus was given command of a huge force of eight legions, comprising up to 50,000 professional soldiers.

Discipline within the ranks was extremely harsh, with punishments even extending at one stage to decimation – the putting to death of every tenth man in a unit. For reasons which have never been fully established, Spartacus took his followers back to southern Italy for a few months; however, early in 71 he resumed the slaves’ northward push. In response to Spartacus’ actions, Crassus placed six of his eight legions along the regional border, sending the other two under Mummius, his legate, to move around behind the rebel force. Mummius’ orders were not to fight, but he disobeyed them and his force was crushed. Despite this setback to the Roman cause, Crassus led his legions to several victories, pushing Spartacus southward once again. By late 71, the slave leader’s army had been forced back to an encampment close to the Strait of Messina. Spartacus is then said to have agreed on a deal with local pirates to transport his men to Sicily, so that he could add to his forces.

The pirates betrayed him and made off with the payment, and though there is some evidence that Spartacus attempted to build rafts, this did not come to anything. He was forced to retreat in the direction of Rhegium, hotly pursued by the Roman legions under Crassus. When the latter arrived, the legions constructed fortifications at the Rhegian isthmus, cutting off the supply line to the slaves. Defeat and Death At this point, Pompey’s legions came home from Spain, at which point the Senate ordered them to relieve Crassus. The latter was concerned that this would mean Pompey taking the credit for himself, and Spartacus saw an opportunity to negotiate. This initiative failed, and a part of the slave force was captured. This led to a collapse in discipline within the slave ranks, with infighting among small, autonomous groups of slaves. Spartacus turned to face the enemy for a final stand but was crushed: most of the slaves died on the field of battle. Spartacus was believed to be among those who died in the last confrontation, even though his body was never found.

The Romans, mindful of the fear that the revolt had prompted within their own people, decided to make the harshest possible example of the 6,000 slaves who had survived the battle. They were sentenced to crucifixion, and their crosses lined the route from Capua back to Rome along the Appian Way. Spartacus himself came to be remembered as a military leader who succeeded for a time against the almost overwhelming superiority, in training and discipline, of the Roman army. Leave a Reply Gladiators Gladiators Gladiators were trained warriors who fought in contests to entertain the Romans. They were usually recruited from slaves or prisoners of war. The fighting was very dangerous and often resulted in death. Because of this, reluctant gladiators were forced into the arena with whips or hot irons. The fights pitted different types of gladiators against each other. Three types of gladiators were the samnite, the secutor, and the retiarius. The saminte were very heavily armed. The retiarius used a trident (three-pronged spear) and a net. They would attempt to catch their opponent in the net and then stab them with the trident.

The secutor had a specialized helmet and equipment to fight their opponents. Gladiators trained hard at a school called a Ludus. The cost of gladiator training was high, so they did not always fight to the death as is often displayed in movies and books on the period. When a gladiator was injured or fell, the crowd would decide his fate. If he had fought well, the crowd would raise their thumbs, meaning to let him go. But if the thumb of the crowds would point down or horizontally, it meant to kill him. It was possible for successful gladiators to become rich and famous and after a time they could retire. The most famous gladiator was Spartacus, who led a two year slave revolt against Rome in 73-71 B.C. Spartacus revolt | Article about Spartacus revolt by The Free Dictionary Spartacus revolt | Article about Spartacus revolt by The Free Dictionary Related to Spartacus revolt: Marcus Licinius Crassus Spartacus (spär`təkəs), d. 71 B.C., leader in an ancient Italian slave revolt, b. Thrace. He broke out (73 B.C.) of a gladiators' school at Capua and fled to Mt.

Vesuvius, where many fugitives joined him. Their army defeated several Roman forces and moved north, devastating S Italy and Campania; Spartacus' aim was a general escape from Italy, but his followers preferred plunder, and in 72 B.C. they were back in S Italy. They took Thurii and got through a cordon which Marcus Licinius Crassus stretched across the "toe" of Italy. Spartacus was killed in a battle with Crassus in Lucania. Pompey, back from Spain, helped annihilate the survivors. Of the captured slaves 6,000 were crucified along the Capua-Rome highway. After the death of Spartacus, 3,000 Roman prisoners were found unharmed in his camp. Spartacus (religion, spiritualism, and occult) Spartacus, asteroid 2,579 (the 2,579th asteroid to be discovered, on August 14, 1977), is approximately 8 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 3.3 years.

It is named after the leader of a slave revolt in ancient Rome and represents the breaking of bonds and revolt against oppressive authority. The sign and house position of Spartacus in a natal chart indicates how this tendency manifests. If prominent in a chart (e.g., conjunct the Sun or the ascendant), it can show a person for whom this tendency is a major life theme. Sources: Kowal, Charles T. Asteroids: Their Nature and Utilization. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Ellis Horwood Limited, 1988. Room, Adrian. Dictionary of Astronomical Names. London: Routledge, 1988. Schwartz, Jacob. Asteroid Name Encyclopedia. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1995. Spartacus Died 71 B.C . Leader of a slave revolt in ancient Rome that took place from 73 (or 74) to 71 B.C . The Gladiatorial War led by Spartacus was one of the most important uprisings of antiquity. Ancient writers provide conflicting information on Spartacus’ life.

A native of Thrace, Spartacus was sold into slavery and sent to a gladiatorial school in Capua. He fled to Mount Vesuvius with a group of approximately 70 gladiators. This force was joined by other runaway slaves and free tenant farmers and soon grew to 10,000. Spartacus defeated two Roman detachments, consisting of 3,000 and 10,000 men sent against him. The uprising quickly spread from Campania to southern Italy. Spartacus led his army of approximately 70,000 men into Apulia and Lucania. Spartacus modeled his army after the Roman army. He refused to accept Roman deserters and enforced strict military discipline. Weapons were seized from the Roman forces and were also produced at the insurgents’ camp. All booty was shared equally. In contrast to the leaders of the Servile Wars in Sicily, Spartacus did not proclaim himself sovereign, and all decisions were apparently made by a council of commanders and an assembly of soldiers. In 72 B.C . the Roman Senate dispatched two armies, commanded by the consuls Cn. Lentulus Clodianus and L.

Gellius Poplicola, against Spartacus. One of the armies succeeded in winning a victory at the Mons Garganus in northern Apulia, defeating a 30,000-strong detachment led by Crixus, which had for some reason become separated from Spartacus’ army. Spartacus took advantage of the disunity of the Roman detachments and defeated them in a number of battles. His army advanced along the Adriatic Sea, covering the entire length of Italy, and defeated the forces of the Roman proconsul Cassius Longi-nus in a battle near Mutina, in Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy). Spartacus apparently planned to lead the slaves out of Italy. However, after the victory over Cassius, he led his army south. Six new legions were formed in Rome to suppress the rebellion. Crassus, a prominent state figure, was placed in command of the army. Avoiding a decisive battle, Crassus pursued Spartacus, who had reached an agreement with Cilician pirates for the supply of ships to transport the rebels to Sicily. The pirates, however, betrayed Spartacus.

When Spartacus’ army succeeded in reaching the Strait of Messina, it found itself cut off from the rest of Italy by a ditch fortified by a wall; Crassus had ordered the ditch, measuring 55 km in length, 4.5 m in width, and 4.5 m in depth, to be dug from sea to sea. The rebel army broke through the wall, but two-thirds of the army was lost. Spartacus quickly recruited new men and led his army of 70,000 to Brundisium, where he planned to cross the Adriatic to Greece. The Roman Senate dispatched the army of Pompey the Great from Spain and the detachment of Marcus Lucullus from Thrace against Spartacus. Fearing the Roman armies would unite, Spartacus was forced, in the spring of 71 B.C ., to engage in battle with Crassus on the border of Apulia and Lucania. His army of approximately 60,000 was defeated; approximately 12,000 insurgents led by Castus and Cannicus had been killed prior to the battle.

Spartacus died in battle, and some 6,000 insurgents were crucified by the Romans along the road from Rome to Capua. Several separate detachments of Spartacus’ army continued to fight for a number of years. The revolt led by Spartacus accelerated the establishment of an imperial form of government in Rome, since the slaveholders understood the necessity of strong state authority to maintain the system of slavery. REFERENCES Lenin, V. I. Poln. sobr. soch. , 5th ed., vol. 39, pp. 76–77. Mishulin, A. V. Spartakovskoe vosstanie. Moscow, 1936. Motus, A. A. “O datirovke nachala vosstaniia Spartaka.” Vestnik drevnei istorii, 1957, no. 3. Kovalev, S. I. “K voprosu o datirovke nachala vosstaniia Spartaka.” Vestnik drevnei istorii, 1956, no. 2. Gorskov, V.

“Voennoe iskusstvo Spartaka.” Voenno-isloricheskii zhurnal, 1972, no. 8. Protasova, S. I. “Antichnaia traditisiia o spartakovskom vosstanii.” Uch. zap. MGU, 1950, issue 143. Brisson, J. P. Spartacus. Paris, 1959. Tudor, D. Râscoala lui Spartacus. Bucharest, 1963. V. I. K

Question: What gladiator led a slave revolt against Rome starting in 73 B.C.?
Answer: Spartacus