Introduction
Spartacus was a charismatic gladiator who led the great uprising of enslaved people in Italy. The slave uprising resulted from enslaved people escaping from a gladiatorial training school located in Capua, which is south of Rome. Many enslaved people joined the slave revolt to free themselves from servitude conditions in which they were forced to live. Spartacus, alongside Crixus, Castus, Oenomaus, and Gannicus, was among the leaders of the enslaved people who escaped from the gladiatorial training school and led the slaves against the roman republic. Spartacus, through his skills, made significant contributions towards the slaves’ revolt against the roman republic. However, little information is known concerning Spartacus, especially information beyond the events of the slave war. This paper will discuss the early life of Spartacus, his enslavement and escape, the slave war he led, his legacy and recognition in various parts of the world.
Early Life
Plutarch refers to Spartacus as a Thracian of Nomadic stock as he is associated with the Maebi tribe (Fields, 28). Spartacus was a Thracian and had served as a soldier alongside the Romans. However, Spartacus was sold as a slave after being a prisoner. A lot concerning his early life is not in the public domain, but the name suggests that Spartacus was a Spartokids dynasty descendant. Therefore, it is clear that little is known concerning his early life. Spartacus is a symbol of rebellion despite ancient accounts explaining his life being contradictory. One of the accounts claims that Spartacus spent some of his years working as a paid auxiliary for Romans. However, after turning against them, Spartacus became a deserter, and after some time, he became a bandit, and at the end, he became a gladiator because of his body strength (Strauss, 31). Spartacus had married, and his wife’s name is not mentioned in any of the accounts despite being enslaved with him.
Enslavement
Spartacus received training at the gladiatorial school, which Lentulus Batiatus owned. Numerous ancient sources have shown that Spartacus was taken captive by the legions. Despite being a slave, Spartacus was a heavyweight gladiator (Strauss, 31). As a fighter, he had to live like other fighters; thus, he kept caring a large oblong shield and was always in possession of a sword he used alongside a broad straight blade.
Spartacus was among the gladiators who planned an escape from the gladiator training school, whereby around seventy slaves took part in the planning. The slaves despite being few, were able to fight their way out of the school free, seize kitchen utensils and some wagons of weapons and armor belonging to the gladiatorial school. Spartacus alongside the slaves who escaped, defeated those sent after them and recruited more slaves into their teams. The team became large in number, and they retired into defensible positions to fight against their enemy, who was once their masters. The free slaves and gladiators who escaped chose Spartacus alongside Crixus and Oenomaus as their leader in the war against the roman republic.
War
The Romans responded to the escape despite being hampered by the roman legions’ absence as they were engaging in a fight in the Third Mithridatic War and against a revolt in Hispania. Also, the Romans considered the slave rebellion to be more of a police matter than a war. Therefore, Rome dispatched its militia, who besieged Spartacus and his team as they had taken a defensible position in a mountain. Rome believed that subjecting Spartacus and his team to starvation would make him and his team surrender to the Roman militia. However, the militia was surprised as Spartacus and his team used ropes to move down the mountain and attacked the militia in their unfortified roman comp. In the attack, Spartacus and his men killed many militias sent to besiege them.
Spartacus-led rebels were able to defeat the expedition against them after they killed all lieutenants of the praetor commander and seized their military equipment. The success of Spartacus and his rebels’ team attracted many slaves, shepherds, and herdsmen from the region to join hands with Spartacus’s forces. Therefore, as many more people joined the Spartacus forces, the team grew and included many people from different parts of the region. Spartacus organized the slaves into ranks where some of the slaves held the rank of legion veterans. Most slaves came from the countryside in the team, meaning they came from rural areas, which made them better prepared to join and fight in the rebels’ army led by Spartacus. The army also included urban enslaved people who were considered lazy and privileged.
Spartacus, in the fight, showed the world that he was an excellent tactician, which proved he had previously acquired military experience. Spartacus was able to lead rebels who did not have military training. He defeated the disciplined Roman armies they faced by only using locally available resources and unusual skills and tactics. Spartacus and Crixus trained the recruits in the army and continued expanding their raiding activities into other territories.
The wars escalated as the rebels advanced northwards. The roman senate was astonished by the rebels’ success over the praetorian forces. The senate was propelled to dispatch a pair of consular legions under the command of Gnaeus Cornelius and Lucius Gellius. These two legions were able to defeat around thirty thousand rebels under the leadership of Crixus near mount Garganus (Shaw, 186). However, Spartacus defeated them, which prompted the senate to chare Marcus Licinius to end the rebellion as the rebels continued to pose a threat to the republic.
Crassus after being given the responsibility despite being the richest man in Rome was put in charge of eight teams with over forty thousand trained soldiers. Crassus introduced the decimation punishment on the soldiers and treated them with harsh discipline to be afraid of him. When Crassus was given the charge, Spartacus and his troops had retreated to the south, and when they were moving to the north again, Crassus deployed six teams out of his eight teams on the borders. At the same time he detached two legions with his legate Mummius to maneuver behind the rebels led by Spartacus. Mummius attacked Spartacus and his troops despite being ordered not to fight the rebels. Crassus’s teams became victorious in different engagements, which forced Spartacus and his team to move further to the south of Rome through Lucania. Spartacus encamped in Rhegium. Spartacus was then betrayed by Cilician pirates, who received payments and failed to transport him as was agreed. After a failed escape, Spartacus turned against the legions after most of his rebels were killed. He fought his last battle, and the legions defeated him.
Legacy
Spartacus is recognized in almost every part of the world as a slave leader who was excellently rebelled against the masters by using locally available resources and unusual tactics to defeat Roman armies. Spartacus has become an icon in current times, especially for socialists and communists. Karl Marx explains Spartacus as a hero who is the most splendid in ancient history as he was a noble character, great general, and real ancient proletariat representative (Croix, 25). Spartacus has gained popularity and praise as an inspirational revolutionist. For instance, the Soviet Union intelligentsia was obsessed with Spartacus as a global revolutionary figure. The actions of Spartacus in leading the enslaved people’s revolt in Rome made hi to attract recognition in various aspects of life. For example, Spartacus’s name appears in many sports clubs, especially those in the former communist and soviet bloc.
In conclusion, Spartacus was a charismatic gladiator who led the great uprising of slaves in Italy despite little information about Spartacus, especially information beyond the events of the slave war. Spartacus received training at the gladiatorial school, which Lentulus Batiatus owned. Spartacus was among the gladiators who planned an escape from the gladiator training school, whereby around seventy slaves took part in the planning. The slaves despite being few, were able to fight their way out of the school free, seize kitchen utensils and some wagons of weapons and armor belonging to the gladiatorial school. The success of Spartacus and his rebels’ team attracted many enslaved people, shepherds, and herders from the region to join hands with Spartacus’s forces. Spartacus, in the fight, showed the world that he was an excellent tactician, which proved he had previously acquired military experience. Spartacus was able to lead rebels who did not have military training. He defeated the disciplined Roman armies they faced by only using locally available resources and unusual skills and tactics.
Works Cited
Croix, De Ste, and EM de Geoffrey. The class struggle in the ancient Greek world: from the archaic age to the Arab conquest. Duckworth, 1981.
Fields, Nic. Spartacus and the Slave War 73-71 BC: a gladiator rebels against Rome. Vol. 206. Osprey Publishing, 2009.
Shaw, Brent D. “Spartacus and the Slave Wars.” A Brief History with Documents (2001): 180-207.
Strauss, Barry. The Spartacus War. Simon and Schuster, 2009.
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