THE SPARTACUS REVOLT

Eva Wang (OHS)

Spartacus - a famous gladiator who led an army of slaves to revolt against the Roman senate during the years of 73-71BC. The slave rebellion, which he led, is now known as the Third Servile War or the Spartacus Revolt. Some believe this act was carried out in order to fulfil desire of using violence and aggression against the Roman senate, however, there were many political themes scattered within the reasons, which are still inspirational to modern politicians and film makers.

Spartacus, a Thracian who had previously served in the Roman army, but later sold as a slave after he deserted the army, escaped a gladiator camp at Capua and refuged with many other of his escapees in 73BC. Many other escaped slaves went and joined them, but Spartacus and his co-leaders Crixus and Oenomaus went and recruited slaves who were living in the fertile lands of Versuavius’ countryside. At a first glance, the senate ignored this gathering, however, leaving a growing force to keep increasing was not deemed wise. Therefore, the senate sent the praetor Gaius Claudius Glaber and his rashly gathered force of 3,000 men; all of which were not a part of a proper unit but a rounding of free soldiers who were at hand to disperse. The rebel’s cause is currently not completely known, but the most popular and logical motive being that oppressed slaves were fighting for their freedom, trying to change the slave owning oligarchy. Slaves at that time were completely controlled by their master, and a single step out of line resulted in severe punishment. One example[1] of their mistreatment is that masters overfed themselves while slaves were left with almost nothing to eat. The slaves would not dare to complain. Therefore, Spartacus’ cause alone is enough to call this event a revolution, as they sought change within the political hierarchy and tried to shift the power balance which existed between master and slave.

Many events happened during the Third Servile War, but the most striking being the repeated defeats on the Roman’s part until the final climax of the revolt. In the first battle, the 3,000 soldier strong army was not even ordered to fight against Spartacus and his gang of ex-slaves, but instead camp right outside of the main route into Vesuvius and aim to starve them out. However, Spartacus took the initiative to stop this before their enemy’s task was succeeded, and so he decided to ambush the Roman force. ‘The slaves were able to surround them and to shock the Romans with a surprise attack. When the Romans fled, the slaves seized their camp,’ (Plutarch). After this defeat, many other shepherds, herdsmen and men came to join the slaves. This recruitment carried on for a year, and by 72BC, Spartacus is said to have rounded up an army of 40,000 men. The senate became very impatient, as by now all of their small forces sent to eradicate the rebels were defeated and many owners of slaves in the capital were in fear of their own slaves revolting against them. As a result, the consuls themselves (Lucius Gellius Publicola and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus) both commanded 10,000 troops against the rebels. This led to the crushing defeat of Crixus and his force of rebels, however Spartacus and his new band of cavalry defeated Gellius’ army.

Moving on from the small battles, queue Crassus, who was in charge of the Roman forces during 71BC (and onwards). He was aware that Rome’s best forces were still outside Italy fighting in Spain, but nevertheless he found a way to trap the rebels in southern Italy near Sicily. The price paid to break out of this trap was huge, with Spartacus reported to have lost thousands of men. As a result, many of the German and Celtic troops led by Castus and Gannicus fled and decided to go about things on their own, losing interest in Spartacus and his cause. However, they did not last long as Crassus’ forces defeated them in the Battle of Cantenna in the spring of 71BC. Spartacus himself was doomed not to last long after, with Crassus’ army slaughtering him and all of his followers in April 71BC. It is thought that Crassus and his soldiers buried them all in a mass grave, leaving Spartacus unidentified to this day. However, all this being said, the name of Spartacus and the cause he fought for are forever remembered; furthermore, his attempt to stir up rebellion to fight against the capitals mistreatment towards slaves hit the hearts of many.

In conclusion, even if his actual revolt did not succeed, his memory lives on and people still remember what he did to this day. There may have been no change to the politics in Rome after his rebellion, but instead it served as a prime example of what should be done, with Karl Marx once noting that Spartacus was one of the greatest heroes in ancient history. A revolution does not necessarily need to have won the battle to succeed in bringing its cause to light, and Spartacus proves that well; he will forever be remembered as a man fighting for the freedom for him and his fellow slaves, rising up against the oppression of the oligarchy system.

Bibliography

Baldwin, B. (1967). Two Aspects of the Spartacus Slave Revolt. The Classical Journal, 62(7), 289-294, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3295491

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2017, December 7). Third Servile War. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/ Gladiatorial-War

Spartacus: History of Gladiator Revolt Leader. (2021), from https://www.livescience.com/39730-spartacus. html

Mark, J. (2021). The Spartacus Revolt, from https:// www.worldhistory.org/article/871/the-spartacusrevolt/

Photos:

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2017, December 7). Third Servile War. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/ Gladiatorial-War

Kenneth, P. Czech, Spartacus, the Grecian Slave Warrior who Threatened Rome, (April, 1994), HistoryNet, https://www.historynet.com/spartacusthe-grecian-slave-warrior-who-threatened-rome.htm

[1] There are many other forms of mistreatment, which have been identified, recorded and acknowledged. It was not an uncommon practice to overwork, starve and ignore slaves. Sometimes, when a slave had died their master would not realise nor even care. Furthermore, with the direct case to Spartacus, those who held higher positions in society never questioned sacrificing slaves into the gladiator ring for means of entertainment. Even though this essay does not deal with the causes of the Spartacus revolution, it is important to note them. Without knowing the reason, how can we fully understand the cause.