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Spartacus general

Spartacus (111 BC-71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, from 73 to 71 BC, led a large-scale slave uprising against the Roman Republic in what came to be known as the "Third Servile War". Spartacus and his army defeated the Roman Army several times before being cornered and defeated by Marcus Licinius Crassus at the Battle of the Silarius River in 71 BC, after which Spartacus and his surviving followers were crucified along the Appian Way. 

Biography[]

Early life[]

Spartacus Libya

Spartacus in Libya, 73 BC

Spartacus was born in southern Thrace to the Maedi tribe, and his origins were unknown. One legend claimed that he was a brave warrior who was married to Sura, fought as an auxiliary with the Roman Republic against the Getae in 73 BC, and was betrayed and sold into slavery by the legate Gaius Claudius Glaber; another tale claimed that he had been a third-generation slave born to an illiterate slave woman, and had been sold into slavery in the mines of Libya before his thirteenth birthday.

Sale to Batiatus[]

Spartacus shackled

Marcus Babudius Cosmas and Lentulus Batiatus inspecting a shackled Spartacus

According to the second, more popular, narrative, Spartacus was sentenced to death in 73 BC after assaulting his guards when they attempted to stop him from helping to free the dying slave Selenium Anullinus from the basket of rocks which was crushing him. Captain Marcus Babudius Cosmas had him tied up to a rock with the intent of starving him to death under the sun, but the visiting lanista Lentulus Batiatus took note of Spartacus' physique (including his healthy teeth) and decided to buy him and make him a gladiator.

Training in Capua[]

Spartacus Crixus slaves

Spartacus and Crixus arriving in Capua

Spartacus and the other slaves were shipped across the Mediterranean to southern Italy and were then carted to Capua, where they were taken to Batiatus' gladiatorial school. They were shaved, bathed, fed, and housed by Batiatus, who had the former gladiator Marcellus drill them in combat. Marcellus was given orders to pay special attention to the rebellious Spartacus, and he once singled Spartacus out in front of the other gladiators and gave him a sword, demanding that he strike at him; despite being caned several times by Marcellus, Spartacus refused to make a move, and Marcellus called him smart, although this meant that Marcellus would be keeping an eye on him at all times.

Spartacus Varinia

Spartacus and Varinia

One night, Batiatus sent several servant girls to service the gladiators in their rooms. Batiatus specifically chose Varinia to service Spartacus, intending on watching them from above. Spartacus, who had never been with a woman before, fell in love with her at first sight, but he stopped short of intercourse when Batiatus and Marcellus began to laugh down on Spartacus and encourage him to have sex in front of them. Ultimately, Spartacus lashed out at them and proclaimed that he was not an animal, and the guards took Varinia away shortly after.

Spartacus

Spartacus as a slave

Over the next few days, Spartacus continued to see Varinia as she served wine to the gladiators and worked in the kitchen, and he flirted with her by staring at her and once holding her hand as she poured wine for him. When Marcellus took notice of the growing affection between the two, he had Varinia sent to service a Spanish gladiator, taking her out of Spartacus' room at the last minute to spite him.

Spartacus Draba battle

Spartacus and Draba in battle

When Marcus Licinius Crassus, Marcus Publius Glabrus, Helena Glabra, and Claudia Maria visited Batiatus' estate, they demanded to witness gladiatorial fights to the death, paying extra to compensate the inevitable deaths of Batiatus' slaves. In the first fight, Spartacus' friend Crixus slew Galino; in the second round, Spartacus faced Draba. Draba nearly killed Spartacus, but he ultimately refused to kill his friend and instead attempted to attack Crassus, who stabbed him in the back of the neck with a knife after Draba had been mortally wounded by javelins. Draba's body was hung upside-down in the gladiatorial quarters, with Marcellus ordering that he be left there until he rotted away.

The uprising begins[]

Spartacus horseback

Spartacus on horseback

The next day, Spartacus saw Varinia leaving on a cart, and Marcellus taunted him by saying that she had been sold and was on her way to Rome; he then whipped him and told him that there was no talking in the kitchen. Spartacus, infuriated, attacked Marcellus; Spartacus' fellow slaves proceeded to attack and kill the other two guards. Spartacus drowned Marcellus in a pot of soup, and he and the other slaves began an uprising, tearing down the gates, fighting off the guards, obtaining weapons, and overwhelming the soldiers. Batiatus fled his estate as the slaves took over, and Spartacus and his force of 70 gladiators soon ravaged the countryside around Capua, freeing slaves and recruiting many of them into their army. They plundered several patrician estates and soon found a base in the escarpment next to Mount Vesuvius. 

Spartacus Varinia reunion

Spartacus reuniting with Varinia

Spartacus came to notice the lack of discipline in his army, as they had become a force of brigands and were even forcing Roman nobles to fight each other to the death. Spartacus swore that he would die before he saw two men fight to the death again, pointing out that Draba did. He told his men that they needed to forage for bread instead of wine, they needed to escape Italy via the sea, and that they needed to march to Brundisium and ally with the Cilician pirates, who could provide them a fleet to help them escape. Along the way, the rebels freed several slaves, and Spartacus even came across Varinia, who had escaped from Batiatus while being carted to Rome. While the other rebels returned to their camp at Mount Vesuvius, Spartacus reunited with Varinia and took her back to his camp, the two having fallen in love.

Antoninus magic

Antoninus performing magic tricks

Spartacus and his army created a fortified camp on Mount Vesuvius, and he and his gladiators trained several escaped slaves in the art of combat. His army consisted of men and women of all ages, and they established a makeshift settlement where families brought their children, made bread, hoarded their loot, and trained for battle. Spartacus took a liking to a slave entertainer, Antoninus Siculus, despite believing that he was unable to fight due to his talents in music and the classics and not in manual labor. He decided that Antoninus would teach the slaves to sing in order to keep their morale high.

Not long after, the Cilician pirate envoy Tigranes Levantus arrived at Spartacus' camp to negotiate with him. Spartacus initially took him aback by ordering that all of Tigranes' litter-bearing servants be freed, although he promised to compensate Tigranes for the loss of his servants. Spartacus then demanded that the Cilicians provide all 500 of their ships to help the slaves escape from Italy, and he agreed to give them 50 million sesterces in exchange for their help. After being promised the down-payment of a huge chest of fine jewelry, Tigranes agreed to Spartacus' terms, and told him to bring his army to Brundisium in seven months.

Battle of Vesuvius[]

Battle of Mount Vesuvius

Spartacus confronting Marcus Publius Glabrus after the Battle of Mount Vesuvius

Before Tigranes left, however, he warned Spartacus that Marcus Publius Glabrus and six cohorts from the Rome garrison were preparing to attack the slaves at Mount Vesuvius, and warned him that he would soon be defeated. However, Spartacus' lieutenants Crixus, Dionysius, and David informed him that the Romans had not fortified their camp with stockades and a moat, and Spartacus decided to launch a surprise attack that night. The Roman camp was easily overrun, and Glabrus was captured while playing dead. Spartacus publicly confronted Glabrus, broke his legate's baton to symbolize the defeat of Rome, and sent him back to the Senate to warn them that the slaves would defeat any army sent against them as they marched south to escape Italy with the help of the pirates.

March to Brundisium[]

After the victory at Vesuvius, Spartacus and his army began their march to Brundisium. The Senate sent two legions to stop the rebel army at Metapontum, but Spartacus and his troops took the city before the year's end. The winter of 73-72 BC was spent training the now 70,000-strong rebel army, and Varinia also became pregnant with Spartacus' son. When two Roman legions were sent to stop Spartacus at Metapontum, Spartacus' army destroyed both of them and inflicted 19,000 casualties. 

Spartacus planning

Spartacus and his men planning

Spartacus and his army later encamped six miles from Brundisium, and they set up a camp and held festivities as Spartacus planned out the army's evacuation by sea. Antoninus calculated that the rebels could load onto 150 ships a day, and Spartacus sent Dionysius to oversee the boardings, ordered Crixus to mount patrols to keep watch for Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus' army (which had landed at Rhegium three days earlier), and sent parties to forage for food in the countryside.

March on Rome[]

Spartacus Brundisium

Spartacus addressing his army at Brundisium

Tigranes was later brought to Spartacus' tent, and Tigranes told him of Pompey's arrival at Rhegium, the impending arrival of Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus' army at Brundisium the next day, and of the "strategic withdrawal" of the Cilician fleet. Spartacus threatened Tigranes with a knife until Tigranes admitted that the Cilicians were bribed by Crassus to retreat. Spartacus realized that Crassus was baiting him and his army to march on Rome rather than be trapped between two Roman armies with his back to the sea, and that he would have to march on Rome in order to survive; Crassus would then become dictator of Rome and would then bring Spartacus and his army to battle. Spartacus angrily rejected Tigranes' offer to evacuate him, his family, and his lieutenants to the East and abandon his men, banishing Tigranes from camp. He then had his followers assembled on the beach, and he gave a stirring speech to all of them, telling them of the situation, announcing his plans to march on Rome, and telling them that he would rather fight side-by-side with them and embark on a long march than be a wealthy Roman slaveowner whose wealth was not earned by him.

Final battle[]

Spartacus captured

Spartacus in Roman captivity

Spartacus and his army came up against Crassus' army in the Battle of the Silarius River. The battle initially went well for the slaves, who released flaming haybales into the Roman army, causing their advancing units to flee in terror. The slaves then charged into battle, and Spartacus and several of his comrades galloped into the fray on horseback. Spartacus fought hard, personally slaying two centurions, but he and most of his lieutenants (such as Antoninus, David, and Dionysius) were captured, while Crixus was slain. Crassus offered to spare the prisoners' lives if they would identify Spartacus, but, before Spartacus could stand to reveal himself, Antoninus stood and proclaimed "I am Spartacus", followed by David and then many others. Angered at this brazen display of defiance, Crassus ordered that all of them be crucified along the Appian Way. Crassus singled out Antoninus and Spartacus (whose identity was still unknown to him) and ordered that they be the last two to be crucified.

Fight to the death[]

Spartacus Antoninus duel

Spartacus fighting Antoninus to the death

Crassus later inspected Antoninus and Spartacus at night, and he recognized Spartacus' appearance when Spartacus defiantly stared at him and refused to identify himself. When Spartacus spit on Crassus' face, Crassus ordered that Spartacus and Antoninus be forced to fight to the death to challenge their "slave brotherhood"; the winner would be crucified. Spartacus ordered Antoninus to stand down and be killed so that he could be spared crucifixion, but Antoninus insisted that he would kill Spartacus to spare him the same cruel fate. After a long and close fight, Spartacus mortally wounded Antoninus, who died in his arms after telling Spartacus that he loved him as a father; Spartacus responded by saying that he loved Antoninus as a son. Crassus then taunted Spartacus by telling him that Varinia and her child were slaves in his household, and he then ordered that Spartacus be crucified. He privately instructed his subordinate Julius Caesar to ensure that Spartacus was crucified on an unmarked cross, that his body be burned, and that his ashes be scattered in secret.

Death[]

Spartacus crucified

Spartacus (on the right) crucified on the Via Appia

Spartacus was crucified at the end of the Appian Way at the gates of Rome, and he suffered throughout the night and into the day. The next morning, he saw Varinia and her child as she left Rome with Lentulus Batiatus, who had been hired by Crassus' rival Gracchus to rescue her to spite Crassus. Varinia cried at Spartacus' feet and showed him their child, promising to tell the boy about his father and his dream that he would grow up free. Varinia then begged Spartacus to die and end his suffering, and she bade a tearful farewell before heading off to Gallia Aquitania with Batiatus and her son.

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