The Roman Times
All the News Romans Need to Know
71 B.C
Rome
Spartacus: Good or Bad?
By Mattilaous Kranzacus
Many Romans have heard the
story of Spartacus and his slave revolt.
But few know the whole story of this
fearless man.
Spartacus was born in Thrace,
the region north of Greece. Spartacus
was a shepherd. Spartacus later spent
time fighting in the Roman army as a
soldier. Then he was a bandit chief
until he was captured and put in a
Roman slave auction. He was sold to a
“ludus,” a school that trained
gladiators to fight at the Coliseum. The
owner of the school was Lentulus
Batiatus. This school was 20 miles
away from Mt Vesuvius in a town
called Capua. Spartacus was trained as
a Thracian gladiator; this means that
he used a round shield and a curved
sword in battle.
Almost immediately after being
sold to the ludas, he began to plan his
escape from the school. Spartacus
was a man who could not stand being
a slave. It was 73 B.C. Others joined
in the revolt, and Spartacus became a
leader of 90,000 or more ex-slaves
and others. The rebellion against the
Romans lasted from 73-71 B.C. The
rebels stole gladiators’ weapons from
wagons that were carrying them to
the coliseum. During the revolt, the
armies of Spartacus defeated the
Roman armies nine times. At the end
of the revolt in 71 B.C., 6,000 of
Spartacus’ followers were crucified
along the Apennine way – a major
highway into the city of Rome. As he
led the rebellion against the Romans,
Spartacus died in battle, killed by
Crassus after defeating many of the
Romans. He died in Apulia, in
southern Italy.
When word spread of
Spartacus’ death, many people were
sad. Jacobilious Deutschious, a nearby
citizen that knew Spartacus said, “I
was very sad about the death of
Spartacus. He was one of my friends.
He was a very effective leader and he
almost led his slaves to victory against
the Romans, a fierce army. Spartacus
was very strong and effective leader.“
This picture shows slaves fighting in the
Coliseum.
One of the few slave survivors
in Spartacus’ army says, “I think that
Spartacus was great and he led me
and all other slaves out of gladiator
school instead of just himself.”
The reporter Appian plans to
write a book, The Civil Wars, He
described the last battle between
Crassus and Spartacus this way: “The
battle was long and bloody, as might
have been expected with so many
thousands of desperate men.
Spartacus was wounded in the thigh
with a spear and sank upon his knee,
holding his shield in front of him and
contending in this way against his
assailants until he and the great mass
of those with him were surrounded
and slain. The remainder of his army
was thrown into confusion and
butchered in crowds. So great was the
slaughter that it was impossible to
count them. The Roman loss was
about 1,000. The body of Spartacus
was not found.”
Many Romans will probably be
relieved that Spartacus is dead. But
those who believe that slavery is a
curse on Roman society will be sad
that the rebellion failed and a brave
man is dead.
This is statue of Spartacus Paris
is at the Louvre Museum.
Source: Ancient Romans by Rosalie
F. and Charles F. Baker III
The Panorama of the Classical
World by Nigel Spivey & Michael
Squire
World History by Jackson J.
Spielvogel
www.famouswonders.com/spartac
us/
Ancient History
Sourcebook: Slavery in the Roman
Republic
www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient
/slavery-romrep1.asp