Antoninus Siculus (99 BC-71 BC) was a Sicilian slave and musician who served in Spartacus' rebel army during the Third Servile War of 73-71 BC. He was killed in a fight to the death with Spartacus after both of them were captured and made to fight by Marcus Licinius Crassus.
Biography[]
Antoninus Siculus was born in Sicily in 99 BC, and he was enslaved and taught to play music for his master's children. In 73 BC, the Governor of Sicily gifted Antoninus and several other slaves to Marcus Licinius Crassus, the richest citizen of the Roman Republic. Crassus took a sexual interest in Antoninus, making Antoninus bathe him and hinting at his bisexuality. While Crassus monologued, Antoninus slipped out of the estate and fled, joining Spartacus' rebel army. Spartacus initially doubted that Antoninus could fight like the others, and he instead had Antoninus keep morale high by having him perform magic tricks and reciting poetic songs. Antoninus would later fight at the Battle of Petelia in 71 BC, during which he and Spartacus were captured. Crassus, infuriated that the surviving gladiators refused to identify Spartacus to him, ordered that all of them be crucified. However, he discovered Spartacus' identity after taunting him about his enslavement of Spartacus' wife Varinia, and he decided to torture Spartacus by making him fight Antoninus (whom he felt had betrayed him) to the death; the winner would be crucified. Antoninus attempted to kill Spartacus to spare him the pain of crucifixion, but Spartacus fought to ensure that Antoninus would be spared the pain; ultimately, Spartacus fatally stabbed Antoninus, who died in his arms after telling him that he had loved him as a father.
Gallery[]
