The Third Servile War, also known as the Gladiator War, was a major slave rebellion against the Roman Republic which occurred from 73 to 71 BC. The rebellion was led by the Thracian gladiator Spartacus, whose following of escaped slaves and gladiators eventually grew in size to 120,000. After early victories at Mount Vesuvius and Metapontum in 73-72 BC, Spartacus' goal of escaping Italy and repatriating his slave followers to their homelands failed when the Cilician fleet he hired betrayed him and decided not to evacuate the slave army from Brundisium. The slave army was forced to march on Rome to avoid being trapped between Pompey and Lucullus' legions in southern Italy, only to be trapped between Crassus' army in the north and Pompey and Lucullus' armies to the west and south; the ensuing Battle of the Silarius River saw the destruction of the slave army and the capture or deaths of its leaders in battle. Spartacus and the surviving leaders of the uprising were crucified on the Appian Way, and Crassus and Pompey used their triumph over Spartacus to propel themselves to victory in the consular elections of 70 BC.
Background[]
The first two Servile Wars had been focused on Sicily, where there was a huge concentration of disenfranchised slaves. This issue was also common throughout Magna Graecia as a whole, including southern Italia, where slaves were put on latifundia (large farming estates), while many others (particularly veterans) were sent to gladiator schools (ludi) to train as gladiators. One of the largest gladiator schools was the notorious Lentulus Batiatus' school in Capua; one of his slaves was Spartacus. In 73 BC, 200 gladiators formulated a plan to escape from his ludus. They were betrayed, but, before they could be stopped, 70 of them seized choppers, knives, and spits from the kitchen and fought their way out of the school. They then captured gladiatorial arms and armor before fleeing to the outskirts of Capua, where they nominated Spartacus as their leader and the Gauls Crixus and Oenomaus as his lieutenants. The three then fought off the Capua garrison and captured their weapons and armor before proceeding to plunder the countryside of Capua, attacking estates, and swelling their numbers to a few thousand by freeing other slaves. They then formed a new camp at Mount Vesuvius.
War[]
Mount Vesuvius[]
Spartacus confronting Marcus Publius Glabrus after the Battle of Mount Vesuvius
The Roman Senate, concerned with the attacks on aristocratic manors, took action comparatively quickly. Gaius Claudius Glaber was sent with 3,000 hastily-assembled militia to defeat the slaves, fighting him in the Battle of Mount Vesuvius. Spartacus' forces climbed down the steep sides of the mountain on improvised ladders and ambushed Glaber's force from behind, almost totally destroying it. Even more flocked to the slave army afterwards, and many of them were given captured weapons; the spoils of war were divided evenly among the rebels. The Praetor Publius Varinius was then sent against Spartacus, but he split his force between the legatus Lucius Furius and Cossinius; Furius' 2,000-strong force was quickly defeated in battle, while Cossinius' force was caught encamped by a river and slaughtered. Spartacus' army grew to almost 70,000 men, equipped by even more captured weapons. He then spent the remainder of the year raiding southern Italy, including Nola, Nuceria, Thurii, and Metapontum. In one of the raids, Oenomaus was killed, but Spartacus' army was still unstoppable, save for with a consular army.
Defeat of the consular armies[]
The Senate then decided to send both of its consuls - Lucius Gellius Publicola and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus - with 40,000 troops to handle the large and organized revolt. At the start of 72 BC, the two armies set out to defeat Spartacus. By this point, divisions had emerged in the rebel camp. Crixus wanted to remain in southern Italy and gather more slaves to the rebel army, while Spartacus wanted to march on Cisalpine Gaul and disperse his men back to their homes as free men. The army split, with 30,000 staying with Crixus and the south and the remaining 60,000 heading north with Spartacus. Publicola caught Crixus' army at Mount Garganus, where Crixus and 20,000 of his men were slain. Spartacus continued his march north, but Clodianus blocked his path, and Publicola pursued him. Rather than face both armies at once, he attacked Clodianus' army in the north and defeated him. Spartacus then marched south to face Publicola, quickly defeating him as well. Both consular armies retreated towards Rome to regroup, but the two consuls then attempted to combine the remnants of their two armies to face Spartacus at Picenum, hoping to redeem themselves. They were defeated again, bringing up to 120,000 followers to his banner. Spartacus briefly considered marching on Rome, but his army lacked the engineering skills to take Rome's formidable defenses. He again decided to raid the south in the winter rather than risk wintering in the mountains of northern Italy.
Rise of Crassus[]
Crassus speaking with his soldiers
In the ensuing elections for the Praetorship, few candidates emerged, as most were afraid that they would have to face Spartacus if elected. The winner was Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome and one of Sulla's former commanders, who was seeking the consulate. Crassus offered his own wealth to fund the war effort, and he assembled six legions and the remnants of Clodianus and Publicola' armies (up to 50,000 troops) for the final campaign against the slaves. Crassus decided to make his men fear him more than Spartacus, "decimating" the remnants of the two consular armies (killing every tenth man) to discipline them. He then sent his legate Mummius with two legions to cut off Spartacus' route of retreat, giving him orders not to engage. However, Mummius disobeyed this order, and the legions were routed, while Mummius was forced to return to Crassus. Crassus gathered the 500 who had led the rout and decimated them, and he then led his entire force to face Spartacus. The 70,000 Roman troops pursued Spartacus to Lucania in southern Italy, where Spartacus attempted to negotiate passage to Sicily from Cilician pirates. The pirates ultimately betrayed Spartacus and abandoned him, taking their gold with them. Crassus caught up to Spartacus near Rhegium and built a palisade and ditch along the isthmus, besieging Spartacus. 6,000 of Spartacus' men were killed in failed assaults on the fortified legions, but a fierce snowstorm allowed for Spartacus' army to launch another assault on the Roman line, filling the Roman ditch and escaping towards Brundisium with 50,000 men.
Final battle[]
The Senate, fearing that Spartacus had now outmaneuvered Crassus and was now marching on Rome, sent Pompey - who had recently returned from crushing another rebellion in Hispania - south to assist Crassus. They also sent the Macedonian governor Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus to reinforce Pompey. Crassus sent two legates with 6,000 men to take Rhegium from the remnants of Spartacus' army under Gannicus and Castus, but the slaves almost completely encircled the legionaries. Fortunately for the Romans, Crassus' army had marched fast, and the Romans then encircled the slaves and, after fierce fighting, 12,000 former slaves were dead. Crassus then turned his attention to Spartacus and followed his army to Brundisium. He picked off escaping slaves as he marched, while Spartacus' men routed Crassus' scout cavalry. Before he could arrive at Brundisium, Spartacus discovered that Lucullus had landed there, so he attempted an escape through Campania. Again, he discovered that his escape route was blocked, as Pompey was approaching from the north. Spartacus and his men resolved to fight to the death in Lucania rather than return to slavery, but Crassus quickly marched into Campania to defeat Spartacus himself and win all the glory. Spartacus and his troops made their last stand at the Battle of the Silarius River, with Spartacus' 50,000 fighters facing Crassus' 40,000 Roman troops (including a few thousand cavalry). Spartacus killed his horse to demonstrate that retreat would not be an option, and his army crashed into the Roman ranks. The battle was long and bloody, and, hoping to break the stalemate, Spartacus charged at Crassus and killed two centurions in the process. However, he was surrounded alone and killed by Crassus' bodyguards, and his army then broke. The battlefield became a slaughter, and 36,000 former slaves and only 1,000 Romans were killed. Crassus' men then captured 6,000 slaves and crucified them along the Appian Way; Pompey captured and killed 5,000 more of the slaves. The Servile Wars were at an end, making Pompey and Crassus popular war heroes and leading to their elections as Consul in 70 BC. Eventually, the two generals, along with Julius Caesar, would form the First Triumvirate, ultimately leading to the fall of the Republic.
