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{{Short description|Thracian gladiator who led a slave revolt}}{{Other uses}}{{distinguish|Spartocus_I{{!}}Spartocus|Sportacus|}}{{pp-protect|small=yes}}

factoids

| death_date = 71 BC (aged 32)Struma (river)>Strymon river in present-day BulgariaLucania, ItalyPlutarch, Crassus, 11:4–7 {{Webarchive>url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#11.6 |date=10 April 2020 }}| image = Tod des Spartacus by Hermann Vogel.jpg| image_size = 300pxThe Death of Spartacus by Hermann Vogel (German illustrator)>Hermann Vogel (1882)| office =| nickname =| allegiance=| serviceyears =73–71 BC| rank =| commands = Rebel slave army| battles = Third Servile War| battles_label =| laterwork =| relations =| nationality = }}Spartacus (; ; {{c.|103–71 BC}}) was a Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic.Historical accounts of his life come primarily from Plutarch and Appian, who wrote more than a century after his death. Plutarch’s Life of Crassus and Appian’s Civil Wars provide the most comprehensive details of the slave revolt. Despite being a significant figure in Roman history, no contemporary sources exist, and all accounts were by those not directly involved, significantly later, and without perspectives from slaves or eyewitnesses. Little is known about him beyond the events of the war, and surviving accounts are contradictory. All sources agree he was a former gladiator and accomplished military leader.Spartacus is described as a Thracian by birth, possibly from the Maedi tribe. Before his enslavement and role as a gladiator, he had served as a soldier with the Romans. His revolt began in 73 BC when he, along with about 70 other gladiators, escaped a gladiatorial school near Capua. Despite their small numbers initially, Spartacus’s forces were able to defeat several Roman military units, swelling their ranks to an estimated 70,000 enslaved people and others. Spartacus proved himself a capable tactician, despite the lack of formal military training among his followers, which included a diverse mix of individuals.The rebellion posed a significant challenge to Roman authority, prompting a series of military campaigns against it. Ultimately, Marcus Licinius Crassus was tasked with suppressing the revolt. Despite initial successes and attempts to negotiate and escape to Sicily, Spartacus’s forces were defeated in 71 BC. Spartacus was presumed killed in the final battle, although his body was never found. The aftermath of the rebellion saw the crucifixion of 6,000 surviving rebels along the Appian Way.Spartacus’s motives remain a subject of debate, with some sources suggesting he aimed to escape Italy, while others hint at broader social reform goals. His legacy has endured, inspiring cultural works and becoming a symbol for resistance and revolutionary movements, influencing figures like Karl Marx and being likened to the “Black Spartacus,” Toussaint Louverture. The rebellion, interpreted as an example of oppressed people fighting for their freedom against a slave-owning oligarchy, has been featured in literature, television, and film.VIDEO, 2009, Historian Barry Strauss on His New Book The Spartacus War,www.youtube.com/watch?v=OedWYiLy8_w,ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/OedWYiLy8_w, 2021-10-30, Interview, Simon & Schuster, {{cbignore}} The philosopher Voltaire described the Third Servile War as “the only just war in history”.WEB,books.google.com/books?id=JlZJAAAAMAAJ, Oeuvres 53, vol. 9, Correspondance générale, 461-3, no. 283, Voltaire, 1821, Although this interpretation is not specifically contradicted by classical historians, no historical account mentions that the goal was to end slavery in the Republic.{{harvnb|Strauss|2009|p=7}} “We do not know if Spartacus wanted to abolish slavery, but if so, he aimed low. He and his men freed only gladiators, farmers, and shepherds. They avoided urban slaves, a softer and more elite group than rural workers. They rallied slaves to the cry not only of freedom but also to the themes of nationalism, religion, revenge, and riches. Another paradox: they might have been liberators but the rebels brought ruin. They devastated southern Italy in search of food and trouble.”

Sources

There are two main sources on Spartacus, both of which were written a century or more after his death: Plutarch of Chaeronea (46 AD - 119 AD) and Appian of Alexandria (95 AD – AD 165).WEB, Conde Library: Spartacus’ slave rebellion,pymblelc.libguides.com/c.php?g=917609&p=6616263#:~:text=There%20are%20two%20important%20sources,of%20Rome%20from%20its%20Foundation., Pymble Ladies College, en, The specific works are Life of Crassus (early Second Century AD) by Plutarch and Civil Wars (early to mid Second Century AD) by Appian. Out of all surviving sources on Spartacus, none were written by eyewitnesses and are all later reconstructions, nor were the sources written by slaves or former slaves, and the earliest source was at least a generation after the war.BOOK, Shaw, Brent, Spartacus and the Slave Wars: A Brief History with Documents, 2018, Bedford, Boston, 9781319094829, 21, It is critical to bear in mind that not one of these documents was written by a slave or a former slave... The most important written sources for any reconstruction of the Spartacus slave war are the accounts by the Roman historian Sallust, the Greek biographer Plutarch, and the Greek historian Appian. Of these three, the account by Sallust is usually deemed to be the most important, since he was closest to the events. Sallust was writing in the generation after the war. The other two writers, Plutarch and Appian, not only came from a different culture (Greek), but they also composed their accounts about two centuries after the events occurred...When reading their accounts, readers must remember that these are not eyewitness reports but much later reconstructions.,

Early life

The Greek essayist Plutarch describes Spartacus as “a Thracian of Nomadic stock”,WEB,penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#8, Plutarch, Crassus 8, 26 November 2006, 10 April 2020,penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#8," title="web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#8,">web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#8, live, in a possible reference to the Maedi tribe.BOOK, Nic Fields, Spartacus and the Slave War 73–71 BC: A Gladiator Rebels Against Rome,books.google.com/books?id=7h6iA8gvKe4C, 2009, Osprey Publishing, 978-1-84603-353-7, 28, Appian says he was “a Thracian by birth, who had once served as a soldier with the Romans, but had since been a prisoner and sold for a gladiator”.Appian, Civil Wars 1.116 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#116 |date=3 June 2020 }}Florus described him as one “who, from a Thracian mercenary, had become a Roman soldier, that had deserted and became enslaved, and afterward, from consideration of his strength, a gladiator”.Florus, Epitome of Roman History s:Epitome of Roman History/Book 2#8|2.8.8]] The authors refer to the Thracian tribe of the Maedi,BOOK, The histories. Vol.2, Books iii–v, Sallust, Patrick, McGushin, Oxford University Press, 978-0198721437, Oxford, 1994, BOOK,books.google.com/books?id=Bn6FAAAAIAAJ&q=spartakus+medi, Annuaire de l’Université de Sofia, Faculté d’histoire, Volume 77, Issue 2, 1985, p. 122, 24 February 2013, 1985, {{harvnb|Strauss|2009|p=31}} which occupied the area on the southwestern fringes of Thrace, along its border with the Roman province of Macedonia – present day south-western Bulgaria.BOOK, The Cambridge Ancient History, John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, N. G. L. Hammond and E. Sollberger, 2nd, Cambridge University Press, 978-0521224963, 1982, 10.1017/CHOL9780521224963,catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam031/75085719.pdf, Plutarch also writes that Spartacus’s wife, a prophetess of the Maedi tribe, was enslaved with him.The name Spartacus is otherwise manifested in the Black Sea region. Five out of twenty Kings of the Thracian Spartocid dynasty of the Cimmerian BosporusDiodorus Siculus, Historical Library Book 12 and PontusDiodorus Siculus, Historical Library Book 16 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117015214books.google.co.uk/books?vid=OCLC04803633&id=E1UDAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA7-PA447&lpg=RA7-PA447&dq=diodorus+sicily&as_brr=1#PRA6-PA124,M1 |date=17 November 2020 }} are known to have borne it, and a Thracian “Sparta” “Spardacus“Theucidides, History of the Peloponnesian War s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:101|2.101]] or “Sparadokos”,WEB,www.jannis.tu-berlin.de/20_Odrysian_Kings_of_Thrace/a_Sparadokos.html, Tribes, Dynasts and Kingdoms of Northern Greece: History and Numismatics, 28 February 2007, 27 August 2007,www.jannis.tu-berlin.de/20_Odrysian_Kings_of_Thrace/a_Sparadokos.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20070827230625www.jannis.tu-berlin.de/20_Odrysian_Kings_of_Thrace/a_Sparadokos.html,">web.archive.org/web/20070827230625www.jannis.tu-berlin.de/20_Odrysian_Kings_of_Thrace/a_Sparadokos.html, live, father of Seuthes I of the Odrysae, is also known.One modern author estimates that Spartacus was {{circa|30}} years old at the time he started his revolt,{{sfn|Strauss|2009|p=13}} which would put his birth year {{circa|103 BC}}.

Enslavement and escape

File:Expansion of Rome, 2nd century BC.gif|thumb|The extent of the Roman RepublicRoman RepublicAccording to the differing sources and their interpretation, Spartacus was a captive taken by the legions.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#116 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Plutarch, Crassus, 8:2 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#8.2 |date=10 April 2020 }}. Note: Spartacus’s status as an auxilia is taken from the Loeb edition of Appian translated by Horace White, which states “...who had once served as a soldier with the Romans...”. However, the translation by John Carter in the Penguin Classics version reads: “...who had once fought against the Romans and after being taken prisoner and sold...”. Spartacus was trained at the gladiatorial school (ludus) near Capua belonging to Lentulus Batiatus. He was a heavyweight gladiator called a murmillo. These fighters carried a large oblong shield (scutum), and used a sword with a broad, straight blade (gladius), about 18 inches long.{{harvnb|Strauss|2009|p=11}} In 73 BC, Spartacus was among a group of gladiators plotting an escape.Plutarch, Crassus, 8:1–2 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#8 |date=10 April 2020 }}; Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#116 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Livy, Periochae, 95:2 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107081006www.livius.org/li-ln/livy/periochae/periochae091.html#95 |date=7 November 2018 }}; Florus, Epitome, s:Epitome of Roman History/Book 2#8|2.8]]. Plutarch claims 78 escaped, Livy claims 74, Appian “about seventy”, and Florus says “thirty or rather more men”. “Choppers and spits” is from Life of Crassus.About 70However, according to Cicero (Ad Atticum VI, ii, 8) at the beginning his followers were much less than 50. slaves were part of the plot. Though few in number, they seized kitchen utensils, fought their way free from the school, and seized several wagons of gladiatorial weapons and armour. The escaped slaves defeated soldiers sent after them, plundered the region surrounding Capua, recruited many other slaves into their ranks, and eventually retired to a more defensible position on Mount Vesuvius.Plutarch, Crassus, 9:1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#9 |date=10 April 2020 }}.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#116 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Florus, Epitome, s:Epitome of Roman History/Book 2#8|2.8]].Once free, the escaped gladiators chose Spartacus and two Gallic slaves—Crixus and Oenomaus—as their leaders. Although Roman authors assumed that the escaped slaves were a homogeneous group with Spartacus as their leader, they may have projected their own hierarchical view of military leadership onto the spontaneous organization, reducing other slave leaders to subordinate positions in their accounts.

Third Servile War

{{details|Third Servile War}}The response of the Romans was hampered by the absence of the Roman legions, which were engaged in fighting a revolt in Hispania and the Third Mithridatic War. Furthermore, the Romans considered the rebellion more of a policing matter than a war. Rome dispatched militia under the command of the praetor Gaius Claudius Glaber, who besieged Spartacus and his camp on Mount Vesuvius, hoping that starvation would force Spartacus to surrender. They were taken by surprise when Spartacus used ropes made from vines to climb down the steep side of the volcano with his men and attacked the unfortified Roman camp in the rear, killing most of the militia.Plutarch, Crassus, 9:1–3 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117015203penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/home.html#9 |date=17 November 2020 }}; Frontinus, Stratagems, Book I, 5:20–22; Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#116 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Broughton, Magistrates of the Roman Republic, p. 109.The rebels also defeated a second expedition against them, nearly capturing the praetor commander, killing his lieutenants, and seizing the military equipment.Plutarch, Crassus, 9:4–5 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#9.4 |date=10 April 2020 }}; Livy, Periochae , 95 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107081006www.livius.org/li-ln/livy/periochae/periochae091.html#95 |date=7 November 2018 }}; Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#116 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Sallust, Histories, 3:64–67. Due to these successes, more and more slaves flocked to the Spartacan forces, as did many of the herdsmen and shepherds of the region, swelling their ranks to some 70,000.Plutarch, Crassus, 9:3 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#9.3 |date=10 April 2020 }}; Appian, Civil War, 1:116 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#116 |date=3 June 2020 }}. At its height, Spartacus’s army included many different peoples, including Celts, Gauls, and others. Due to the previous Social War (91–87 BC), some of Spartacus’s ranks were legion veterans.BOOK, Beard, Mary, SPQR A History of Ancient Rome, Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2015, 978-1-63149-222-8, New York, 249–250, Of the slaves that joined Spartacus ranks, many were from the countryside. Rural slaves lived a life that better prepared them to fight in Spartacus’s army. In contrast, urban slaves were more used to city life and were considered “privileged” and “lazy.“{{harvnb|Strauss|2009|p=46}}In these altercations, Spartacus proved to be an excellent tactician, suggesting that he may have had previous military experience. Though the rebels lacked military training, they displayed skilful use of available local materials and unusual tactics against the disciplined Roman armies.Frontinus, Stratagems, Book I, 5:20–22 and Book VII:6. They spent the winter of 73–72 BC training, arming and equipping their new recruits, and expanding their raiding territory to include the towns of Nola, Nuceria, Thurii, and Metapontum.Florus, Epitome, s:Epitome of Roman History/Book 2#8|2.8]]. The distance between these locations and the subsequent events indicate that the slaves operated in two groups commanded by Spartacus and Crixus.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}In the spring of 72 BC, the rebels left their winter encampments and began to move northward. At the same time, the Roman Senate, alarmed by the defeat of the praetorian forces, dispatched a pair of consular legions under the command of Lucius Gellius and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116–117 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#116 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Plutarch, Crassus 9:6 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#9.6 |date=10 April 2020 }}; Sallust, Histories, 3:64–67. The two legions were initially successful—defeating a group of 30,000 rebels commanded by Crixus near Mount GarganusAppian, Civil Wars, 1:117 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#117 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Plutarch, Crassus 9:7 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#9.7 |date=10 April 2020 }}; Livy, Periochae 96 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719062132www.livius.org/li-ln/livy/periochae/periochae096.html#96 |date=19 July 2017 }}.—but then were defeated by Spartacus. These defeats are depicted in divergent ways by the two most comprehensive (extant) histories of the war by Appian and Plutarch.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:117 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#117 |date=3 June 2020 }}.Plutarch, Crassus, 9:7 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#9.7 |date=10 April 2020 }}.WEB,www.historynet.com/ancient-history-spartacus-and-the-slave-rebellion.htm, Spartacus and the Slave Rebellion, 31 July 2006, Historynet.com, 24 February 2013, 7 August 2011,www.historynet.com/ancient-history-spartacus-and-the-slave-rebellion.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20110807210612www.historynet.com/ancient-history-spartacus-and-the-slave-rebellion.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20110807210612www.historynet.com/ancient-history-spartacus-and-the-slave-rebellion.htm, live, BOOK, Shaw, Brent D., Spartacus and the servile wars: a brief history with documents, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001, 978-0-312-23703-5,archive.org/details/spartacusslavewa00bren, Alarmed at the continued threat posed by the slaves, the Senate charged Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome and the only volunteer for the position,Appian, Civil Wars, 1:118 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#118 |date=3 June 2020 }}. with ending the rebellion. Crassus was put in charge of eight legions, numbering upwards of 40,000 trained Roman soldiers;Smith, William (1870). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, “Exercitus”, p. 494 WEB,www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0501.html, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, page 494, 4 January 2010, 6 October 2012,www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0501.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20121006075247www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0501.html,">web.archive.org/web/20121006075247www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0501.html, dead, . he treated these with harsh discipline, reviving the punishment of “decimation”, in which one-tenth of his men were slain to make them more afraid of him than their enemy. When Spartacus and his followers, who for unclear reasons had retreated to the south of Italy, moved northward again in early 71 BC, Crassus deployed six of his legions on the borders of the region and detached his legate Mummius with two legions to maneuver behind Spartacus. Though ordered not to engage the rebels, Mummius attacked at a seemingly opportune moment but was routed.Plutarch, Crassus, 10:1–3 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#10 |date=10 April 2020 }}. After this, Crassus’s legions were victorious in several engagements, forcing Spartacus farther south through Lucania as Crassus gained the upper hand. By the end of 71 BC, Spartacus was encamped in Rhegium (Reggio Calabria), near the Strait of Messina.File:Spartacus by Sanesi.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A 19th-century depiction of the fall of Spartacus by the Italian Nicola SanesiNicola SanesiAccording to Plutarch, Spartacus made a bargain with Cilician pirates to transport him and some 2,000 of his men to Sicily, where he intended to incite a slave revolt and gather reinforcements. However, he was betrayed by the pirates, who took payment and then abandoned the rebels. Minor sources mention that there were some attempts at raft and shipbuilding by the rebels as a means to escape, but that Crassus took unspecified measures to ensure the rebels could not cross to Sicily, and their efforts were abandoned.Florus, Epitome, s:Epitome of Roman History/Book 2#8|2.8]]; Cicero, Orations, “For Quintius, Sextus Roscius...”, 5.2 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327093932www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0018;query=chapter%3D%23448;layout=;loc=Ver.%205.7 |date=27 March 2008 }} Spartacus’s forces then retreated toward Rhegium. Crassus’s legions followed and upon arrival built fortifications across the isthmus at Rhegium,{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} despite harassing raids from the rebels. The rebels were now under siege and cut off from their supplies.Plutarch, Crassus, 10:4–5 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#10.4 |date=10 April 2020 }}.At this time, the legions of Pompey returned from Hispania and were ordered by the Senate to head south to aid Crassus.Contrast Plutarch, Crassus, 11:2 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#11.2 |date=10 April 2020 }} with Appian, Civil Wars, 1:119 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#119 |date=3 June 2020 }}. Crassus feared that Pompey’s involvement would deprive him of credit for defeating Spartacus himself. Hearing of Pompey’s involvement, Spartacus tried to make a truce with Crassus.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:120 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#120 |date=3 June 2020 }}. When Crassus refused, Spartacus and his army broke through the Roman fortifications and headed to Brundusium with Crassus’s legions in pursuit.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:120 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#120 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Plutarch, Crassus, 10:6 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#10.6 |date=10 April 2020 }}.When the legions managed to catch a portion of the rebels separated from the main army,Plutarch, Crassus, 11:3 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#11.3 |date=10 April 2020 }}; Livy, Periochae, 97:1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719062132www.livius.org/li-ln/livy/periochae/periochae096.html#97 |date=19 July 2017 }}. Bradley, Slavery and Rebellion. p. 97; Plutarch, Crassus, 11:4 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#11.4 |date=10 April 2020 }}. discipline among Spartacus’s forces broke down as small groups independently attacked the oncoming legions.Plutarch, Crassus, 11:5 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#11.5 |date=10 April 2020 }};. Spartacus now turned his forces around and brought his entire strength to bear on the legions in a last stand, in which the rebels were routed completely, with the vast majority of them being killed on the battlefield.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:120 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#120 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Plutarch, Crassus, 11:6–7 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#11.6 |date=10 April 2020 }}; Livy, Periochae, 97.1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719062132www.livius.org/li-ln/livy/periochae/periochae096.html#97 |date=19 July 2017 }}.The final battle that saw the assumed defeat of Spartacus in 71 BC took place on the present territory of Senerchia on the right bank of the river Sele in the area that includes the border with Oliveto Citra up to those of Calabritto, near the village of Quaglietta, in the High Sele Valley, which at that time was part of Lucania. In this area, since 1899, there have been finds of armour and swords of the Roman era.Plutarch, Appian, and Florus all claim that Spartacus died during the battle, but Appian also reports that his body was never found.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:120 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#120 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Florus, Epitome, s:Epitome of Roman History/Book 2#8|2.8]]. Six thousand survivors of the revolt captured by the legions of Crassus were crucified, lining the Appian Way from Rome to Capua, a distance of more than 100 miles.Appian, Civil Wars, 1.120 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#120 |date=3 June 2020 }}.

Objectives

Classical historians were divided as to the motives of Spartacus. None of Spartacus’s actions overtly suggest that he aimed at reforming Roman society or abolishing slavery.Plutarch writes that Spartacus wished to escape north into Cisalpine Gaul and disperse his men back to their homes. If escaping the Italian peninsula was indeed his goal, it is not clear why Spartacus turned south after defeating the legions commanded by the consuls Lucius Publicola and Gnaeus Clodianus, which left his force a clear passage over the Alps.Appian and Florus write that he intended to march on Rome itself.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:117 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#117 |date=3 June 2020 }}; Florus, Epitome, s:Epitome of Roman History/Book 2#8|2.8]]. Appian also states that he later abandoned that goal, which might have been no more than a reflection of Roman fears.Based on the events in late 73 BC and early 72 BC, which suggest independently operating groups of escaped slavesPlutarch, Crassus, 9:7 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#9.7 |date=10 April 2020 }}; Appian, Civil Wars, 1:117 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603015424penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1%2A.html#117 |date=3 June 2020 }}. and a statement by Plutarch, it appears that some of the escaped slaves preferred to plunder Italy, rather than escape over the Alps.Plutarch Crassus, 9:5–6 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410020040penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#9.5 |date=10 April 2020 }}.{{clarify|date=October 2013}}

Legacy and recognition

Toussaint Louverture, a leader of the slave revolt that led to the independence of Haiti, has been called the “Black Spartacus”.NEWS, Thomson, Ian, Ian Thomson (writer), The black Spartacus,www.theguardian.com/books/2004/jan/31/featuresreviews.guardianreview35, The Guardian, 31 January 2004, Patrick Leigh Fermor hailed L’Ouverture as the “black Spartacus” after the slave who challenged Rome..., BOOK, Diken, Bulent, Bulent Diken, Revolt, Revolution, Critique: The Paradox of Society, 2012, Routledge, 978-1134005642, 61, ...like the ‘black Spartacus’ Toussaint–Louverture, the leader of the insurgent black slaves who escaped from plantations and defeated the Napoleonic forces in Haiti in 1796–1804, or like the ‘Spartacist’ leaders of the communist revolt in Germany in 1919., Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Bavarian Illuminati, often referred to himself as Spartacus within written correspondences.BOOK, Douglas Reed, The controversy of Zion,books.google.com/books?id=96O8AAAAIAAJ, 1978, Dolphin Press, 139, 9780620041331, File:Spartaco a Rosarno graffito Torino via Valperga Caluso.jpg|thumb|Viva Spartaco, Spartaco a Rosarno: graffiti connecting Spartacus with 2010 Rosarno riots between locals and migrant farm workers]]In modern times, Spartacus became a hero and icon for communists and socialists. Karl Marx listed Spartacus as one of his heroes and described him as “the most splendid fellow in the whole of ancient history” and a “great general, noble character, real representative of the ancient proletariat”.BOOK, de Ste. Croix, G. E. M., The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World, 1989, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y., 978-0801495977, 25], G. E. M. de Ste. Croix, The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World, Spartacus has been a great inspiration to left-wing revolutionaries, most notably the German Spartacus League (1915–18), a forerunner of the Communist Party of Germany.BOOK, Fowkes, Ben, The German Left and the Weimar Republic: A Selection of Documents, 2014, Brill, 978-9004271081, 71, A January 1919 uprising by communists in Germany was called the Spartacist uprising. Spartacus Books, one of the longest running collectively-run leftist book stores in North America, is also named in his honour. The village of Spartak, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, is also named after Spartacus.Spartacus’s name was also used in athletics in the Soviet Union and communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. The Spartakiad was a Soviet bloc version of the Olympic games.Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, volume 24 (part 1), p. 286, Moscow, Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya publisher, 1976. This name was also used for the mass gymnastics exhibition held every five years in Czechoslovakia. The mascot for the Ottawa Senators, Spartacat, is also named after him.

In popular culture

File:Spartacus statue by Denis Foyatier.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Spartacus, marble sculpture by Denis FoyatierDenis Foyatier{{popcruft|section|date=March 2024}}

Film

• The film Spartacus (1960), which was executive-produced by and starred Kirk Douglas, was based on Howard Fast’s novel Spartacus and directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Television

• Fast’s novel was adapted as a 2004 miniseries by the USA Network, with Goran ViÅ¡njić in the main role.
• One episode of 2007–2008 BBC’s docudrama Heroes and Villains features Spartacus.
• The television series Spartacus, starring Andy Whitfield and later Liam McIntyre in the title role, aired on the Starz premium cable network from January 2010 to April 2013.WEB,tvblog.ugo.com/tv/spartacus-comic-con-2009,tvblog.ugo.com/tv/spartacus-comic-con-2009," title="archive.today/20120716020237tvblog.ugo.com/tv/spartacus-comic-con-2009,">archive.today/20120716020237tvblog.ugo.com/tv/spartacus-comic-con-2009, dead, 16 July 2012, Spartacus, Tvblog.ugo.com  â€“ Comic-Con 2009, 29 June 2009, 24 February 2013, WEB,spartacus.ausxip.com/2009/06/, AUSXIP Spartacus: Blood and Sand TV Show Lucy Lawless Sam Raimi & Rob Tapert, Spartacus.ausxip.com, 24 February 2013, 7 July 2011,spartacus.ausxip.com/2009/06/," title="web.archive.org/web/20110707191017spartacus.ausxip.com/2009/06/,">web.archive.org/web/20110707191017spartacus.ausxip.com/2009/06/, live,
• The History Channel’s Barbarians Rising (2016) features the story of Spartacus in its second episode entitled “Rebellion”.
• The fifth series of sitcom Outnumbered had Ben Brockman (Daniel Roche) play Spartacus in a musical called Spartacus.WEB,www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/ctbn8d/outnumbered--s5-e6-spartacus-the-musical/, Outnumbered Season 5, 17 November 2020, 9 January 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210109173427/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/ctbn8d/outnumbered--s5-e6-spartacus-the-musical/, dead,
• Spartacus appears in the season 6 premiere of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, portrayed by Shawn Roberts.WEB,primenews.pl/rozrywka/seriale/2021/05/07/shawn-roberts-dcs-legends-of-tomorrow-sezon-6-spartakus/, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Shawn Roberts in an unexpected guest appearance, Prime News, Virtual Press Sp. z o.o., May 7, 2021, May 7, 2021, He is abducted and eaten by an alien.

Literature

• Howard Fast wrote the historical novel Spartacus, the basis of the 1960 film of the same name.
• Arthur Koestler wrote a novel about Spartacus called The Gladiators.
• The Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon wrote a novel Spartacus.
• The Italian writer Raffaello Giovagnoli wrote his historical novel, Spartacus, in 1874. His novel has been subsequently translated and published in many European countries.
• The German writer Bertolt Brecht wrote Spartacus, his second play, before 1920. It was later renamed Drums in the Night.
• The Latvian writer Andrejs UpÄ«ts in 1943 wrote the play Spartacus.
• The Polish writer {{Interlanguage link multi|Halina Rudnicka|pl}} in 1951 wrote a novel Uczniowie Spartakusa (Spartacus’s disciples).
• The Reverend Elijah Kellogg’s Spartacus to the Gladiators at Capua has been used effectively by school pupils to practice their oratory skills for ages.
• Amal Donkol, the Egyptian modern poet wrote “The Last Words of Spartacus”.
• Max Gallo wrote the novel Les Romains.Spartacus. La Revolte des Esclaves, Librairie Artheme Fayard, 2006.
• In the Fate/Apocrypha light novel series by YÅ«ichirō Higashide, Spartacus appears as a Berserker-class Servant summoned by the Red faction. In the anime adaptation of the novels, Spartacus is voiced by Satoshi Tsuruoka in Japanese and Josh Tomar in English. This version of Spartacus would also appear in the mobile RPG Fate/Grand Order.
• Ben Kane wrote the novels Spartacus: The Gladiator and Spartacus: Rebellion, in 2012.

Music

• The “Spartacus Overture” was written by composer Camille Saint-Saëns in 1863.
• “Love Theme From Spartacus” was a hit for composer Alex North and has become a jazz standard.
• Spartacus (1954, first staged in 1956) is a ballet, with a score by Soviet Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian.
• In 1975, Triumvirat reached the apex of their commercial success with the release of Spartacus, a classic “prog rock” album.
• Australian composer Carl Vine wrote a short piano piece entitled “Spartacus”, from Red Blues.
• Phantom Regiment’s show, “Spartacus”, was the championship show of the 2008 Drum Corps International season.
• Jeff Wayne released his musical retelling, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of Spartacus, in 1992.

Video games

• In (Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome) Expansion IV Enemies of Rome, 3: Spartacus the campaign has the player fighting against Spartacus’s army.
• In Spartacus Legends, Spartacus appears as an endgame boss.
• In Gladihoppers, He appears as a playable character in the Spartacus War, if the player chose the Spartacus Rebellion mode. If the player names the character in Career Mode, Spartacus, the player will receive Spartacus’s sword.

Board games

• In the expandable miniature wargaming system Heroscape, Spartacus appears as a unique gladiator hero, having been rescued by the Archkyrie Einar before his death.

Places

• Spartacus Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands.

In sports

Several sports clubs around the world, in particular the former Soviet and the Communist Bloc, were named after the Roman gladiator.

In Russia

• FC Spartak Moscow, a football club
• FC Spartak Kostroma, a football club
• PFC Spartak Nalchik, a football club
• FC Spartak Vladikavkaz, a football club
• HC Spartak Moscow, an ice hockey team
• Spartak Saint Petersburg, a basketball team
• Spartak Tennis Club, a tennis training facility
• WBC Spartak Moscow, a women’s basketball team

In Ukraine

• FC Spartak Sumy, a football club
• Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk, a football team
• Zakarpattia Uzhhorod, a football club, formerly known as Spartak Uzhhorod
• Spartak Lviv
• Spartak Kyiv
• Spartak Odesa, a football team competed in the 1941 Soviet war league
• Spartak Kharkiv, a football team competed in the 1941 Soviet war league

In Bulgaria

• FC Spartak Varna, a football team
• OFC Spartak Pleven, a football team
• PFC Spartak Plovdiv, a football team
• Spartak Sofia, a defunct football team

In Serbia

• FK Spartak Subotica, a football team
• FK Radnički, several teams

In Slovakia

• FC Spartak Trnava, a football team
• TJ Spartak Myjava, a football team
• FK Spartak Vráble, a football team
• FK Spartak Bánovce nad Bebravou, a football team

In other countries

• Spartak Stadium (disambiguation)
• Barnt Green Spartak F.C., an English football team
• Spartak (Cape Verde), a Cape Verdean football team
• FC Spartak Semey, a Kazakh football team

See also

• {{anl|Autaritus}}
• {{anl|Gaius Julius Civilis}}
• {{anl|John of Gothia}}
• {{anl|Vercingetorix}}
• {{anl|Viriathus}}

References

{{refs}}

Bibliography

Classical authors:

• Appian. Civil Wars. Translated by J. Carter. (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1996)
• Florus. Epitome of Roman History. (London: W. Heinemann, 1947)
• Orosius. The Seven Books of History Against the Pagans. Translated by Roy J. Deferrari. (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1964).
• Plutarch. Fall of the Roman Republic. Translated by R. Warner. (London: Penguin Books, 1972), with special emphasis placed on “The Life of Crassus” and “The Life of Pompey”.
• Sallust. Conspiracy of Catiline and the War of Jugurtha. (London: Constable, 1924)

Modern historiography:

• Bradley, Keith R. Slavery and Rebellion in the Roman World, 140 B.C.–70 B.C. Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1989 (hardcover, {{ISBN|0-253-31259-0}}); 1998 (paperback, {{ISBN|0-253-21169-7}}). [Chapter V] The Slave War of Spartacus, pp. 83–101.
• Rubinsohn, Wolfgang Zeev. Spartacus’ Uprising and Soviet Historical Writing. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 1987 (paperback, {{ISBN|0-9511243-1-5}}).
• Spartacus: Film and History, edited by Martin M. Winkler. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2007 (hardcover, {{ISBN|1-4051-3180-2}}; paperback, {{ISBN|1-4051-3181-0}}).
• Trow, M.J. Spartacus: The Myth and the Man. Stroud, United Kingdom: Sutton Publishing, 2006 (hardcover, {{ISBN|0-7509-3907-9}}).
• Genner, Michael. “Spartakus. Eine Gegengeschichte des Altertums nach den Legenden der Zigeuner”. Two volumes. Paperback. Trikont Verlag, München 1979/1980. Vol 1 {{ISBN|978-3-88167-053-1}} Vol 2 {{ISBN|978-3-88167-060-9}}
• Plamen Pavlov, Stanimir Dimitrov,Spartak â€“ sinyt na drenva Trakija/Spartacus â€“ the Son of ancient Thrace. Sofia, 2009, {{ISBN|978-954-378-024-2}}
• BOOK, Strauss, Barry, The Spartacus War,archive.org/details/spartacuswar00stra, registration, 2009, Simon & Schuster, 978-1-4165-3205-7,
• Beard, Mary. SPQR A History of Ancient Rome. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2015, {{ISBN|978-1-63149-222-8}}

External links

{{commons}}{{EB1911 Poster|Spartacus}}

• BBC Radio 4 – In Our Time – Spartacus
• Spartacus {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517181047www.livius.org/so-st/spartacus/spartacus.html |date=17 May 2016 }} Article and full text of the Roman and Greek sources.
• Spartacus, movie starring Kirk Douglas and Sir Peter Ustinov
• Spartacus, television mini-series starring Goran ViÅ¡njić and Alan Bates
• Starz Mini-Series airing in 2010

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