1. Spartacus
led slave revolt from 73 BC – 71 BC

2. 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?

3. today 
1st century BC

4. 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

5. THE ESCAPE

6. 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?

7. 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

8. 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…

9. OLD NEW

10. 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

12. 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

13. 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

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

15. 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!

16. Seats 70 Seats 70,000
Any Comparison?!

17. 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

18. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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”)

24. 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

25. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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…

30. 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)

31. 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

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

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

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