Spartacus led slave revolt from 73 BC – 71 BC

Spartacus: The Man Born a free man from the province of Thrace (probably modern Greece or Southern Bulgaria) Auxiliary in the Roman army at Macedonia Deserted the army, was outlawed, captured, and sold into slavery Plutarch considers him “a man not only of high spirit and valiant, but in understanding, also, and in gentleness superior to his condition, and more of a Grecian than the people of his country usually are.” Isn’t it obvious that’s from the original Greek?

today -------- 1st century BC

Spartacus’ New Profession Spartacus was sold into the slavery of Lentulus Batiatus (Latin names…) who lived in the city of Capua (south of Rome) Batiatus operated a school which he forced his new slave Spartacus to enter… a school for GLADIATORS! Lentulus was known to be very harsh with his gladiators and as a result 200 of the gladiators planned an escape

THE ESCAPE

The Escape OH NO! Batiatus heard of the gladiators’ plan! Of the 200 that planned the escape, only around 70 made it The men used knives stolen from the cook to break out into the city of Capua Gonna be hard to fight off the armed guards of the city with a bunch of knives isn’t it?

WHAT LUCK! Spartacus and his men found a group of wagons carrying gladiator weapons, such as: SPEAR CLUB TRIDENT… Like in the Little Mermaid Yes, a net is really considered a gladiator’s weapon

First Fight WHAT BAD LUCK! Spartacus and the other gladiators run into the armed guards of Capua as they are exiting the city… Spartacus and the other gladiators kill the guards, and take their weapons and armor…

OLD NEW

Clodius: Spartacus’ First Test Army of 3,000 recruits hastily drafted from the region of the rebellion Trapped Spartacus on Mount Vesuvius – only 1 path to get up/down the mountain Heavily guarded the path, waiting for Spartacus to be forced to come back down

Spartacus Gets an ‘A’ Clodius, a praetor with imperium, thought he had Spartacus trapped on the mountain, but Spartacus thought up a plan At the top of the mountain were many strong vines Took the vines and fashioned them into ladders Climbed down the mountain Spartacus’ army sneaked behind Clodius’ army (because it was constantly faced toward the path) and decimated it

Take Two Spartacus’ army was constantly growing, taking in any slave that wanted to join Publius Verinus, the local praetor, was sent with an army of 3,000 men and easily defeated Cossinius was sent with even more forces, and he was nearly captured, then killed in battle, and his army was defeated

A picture of a battle in Roman times (let’s face it, too much text drives you nuts…)

Greed and Pride, A Bad Combo Spartacus and his army made it all the way to the Alps Spartacus had planned for his army to disperse here, since each of the former slaves could now travel to his homeland The army directly disobeyed Spartacus, full of pride from its victories and greed for more pillaged goods The army had also grown to over 75,000 people since the revolt had begun… it started as 70!

Seats 70 Seats 70,000 Any Comparison?!

Don’t Mess with Rome The Roman Senate has had enough, and sends both consuls to destroy the revolt Each consul is given two legions (circa 5 thousand men per legion) Gellius Publicola, one of the consuls, destroys the Gauls and Germans, the main group that wanted to stay in Italy, after they split away from Spartacus

Consul vs. Spartacus x2 Each consul decides to attack Spartacus individually (more glory) Lentulus attempts to attack Spartacus first; his army is destroyed Publicola catches up afterwords and attacks Spartacus, and his army is destroyed Because Publicola killed Spartacus’ former allies, Spartacus makes 300 of his surrendered troops split into pairs and fight (1v1) to the death Cassius, praetor of the nearby area in Gaul, is sent with 10,000 reinforcements, and even he cannot defeat Spartacus’ army

Now Yah Dun It… The Senate realizes that this revolt has gained real power, and decides to grant imperium (hey, you need SOME Latin) to Marcus Licinius Crassus

Crassus Crassus is, at this point, the RICHEST man in all of Rome A noble from an old patrician family Received little confidence from the conservative Senators, but much more from the people His Army: 6 new legions, plus the four legions that had been given to the consuls

Stupid, Stupid Mummies Lieutenant Mummius, a commander under Crassus, was given an army of 2 legions to patrol the area for Spartacus Was told under NO circumstances to attack Spartacus Mummius gets beaten, and the 500 surviving men are forced to give their armor and weapons to Spartacus Crassus is so angry that he splits the 500 returning men into 50 groups of ten, and kills 1 man from every group in front of the entire army (the true meaning of “decimate”)

Crassus v. Spartacus Crassus leads the remainder of his troops against the army of Spartacus (120,000 strong) Crassus has around 8 full legions, or nearly 40,000 men Crassus forces Spartacus to retreat

Never trust a Pirate Spartacus retreats to Rhegium Spartacus had made a deal with Cilician pirates, who were going to take his army to attack Sicily The pirates decline to acquiesce to his request… although they aren’t from the Caribbean Spartacus walls himself into the small peninsula at Rhegium in preparation for an attack by Crassus

Crassus Takes Charge Crassus first sends a message to the Senate to recall Pompey Pompey was currently attacking Spain, but Crassus thought he may need Pompey’s strength to crush the rebellion Crassus then attacks the stronghold Spartacus has created at Rhegium Spartacus breaks part of Crassus’ line, and thus part of his army is able to escape

It’s all about the ‘W’ Crassus realizes that he can destroy Spartacus himself and get all the glory before Pompey returns Quickly follows Spartacus and attacks the remnants of his army Quintius, an officer under Crassus catches Spartacus, and attempts to defeat him Spartacus destroys Quintius’ small army

Spartacus’ Downfall? Once again, Spartacus’ army is fueled by victory After nearly being annihilated, escaping Crassus, and then destroying Quintius, the army decides that the best idea is to attack Crassus’ army Crassus is waiting…

Spartacus’ Final Battle Spartacus meets Crassus’ army, and realizes that his only chance is to attack Crassus head on Spartacus succeeds in killing two centurions guarding Crassus, but is then surrounded by enemy troops, and “cut into pieces” (hey, those are Plutarch’s words, not mine)

Pompey Wins!! Wait, Pompey?! Pompey returns from Spain to see that Crassus has defeated Spartacus Realizing that there is still chance to seize the glory from Crassus, Pompey kills the remaining slaves that are trying to escape The Senate votes Pompey a triumph for his victories in Spain and at home Crassus is voted an “ovation,” a far less splendid honor

Finis What?! The end? Let’s review for a minute. . . .

Review dates of rebellion? leader of rebellion? stopped rebellion? original plan to escape? decimate legion imperium triumph ovation

Terms to Know SPQR = Senatus Populusque Romanus cohort The Senate and the Roman People 480 soldiers (+ 5 centurions/leaders); sometimes 600