Spartacus (; – 71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic.
Historical accounts of his life come primarily from Plutarch and Appian, who wrote more than a century after his death. Plutarch's Life of Crassus and Appian's Civil Wars provide the most detailed accounts of the slave revolt. Although Spartacus is a significant figure in Roman history, no contemporary sources exist, and all accounts are written significantly later, by persons not directly involved, and without perspectives of slaves or eyewitnesses. Little is known about him beyond the events of the war, and the extant accounts are contradictory. All sources agree, however, that he was a former gladiator and accomplished military leader.
Spartacus is described as having been born near the Strymon river, in Thrace (now known as Bulgaria), possibly from the Maedi tribe. Before his enslavement and use as a gladiator, he served as a soldier with the Romans. His revolt began in 73 BC when, along with about 70 other gladiators, he escaped a gladiatorial school near Capua. Despite their initially small numbers, Spartacus's forces were able to defeat several Roman military units and swell their ranks to an estimated 70,000 enslaved people and others. Spartacus proved himself a capable tactician despite the dearth of formal military training among his followers, who were a diverse mix.
The rebellion posed a significant challenge to Roman authority, prompting a series of military campaigns against it. Ultimately, Marcus Licinius Crassus was tasked with suppressing the revolt. Despite initial successes and attempts to negotiate and escape to Sicily, Spartacus's forces were defeated in 71 BC. Spartacus was presumed killed in the final battle, although his body was never found. In the aftermath of the rebellion, 6,000 captured rebels were crucified along the Appian Way.
Spartacus's motives remain a subject of debate. Some sources suggest he aimed to escape Italy, while others hint at broader social reform goals. His legacy has endured, inspiring cultural works and becoming a symbol of resistance and revolutionary movements, influencing such figures as Karl Marx and Toussaint Louverture. The rebellion, interpreted as an example of oppressed people fighting for their freedom against a slave-owning oligarchy, has been portrayed in literature, television, and film. The philosopher Voltaire described the Third Servile War as "the only just war in history". Although this interpretation is not specifically contradicted by classical historians, no historical account claims that the goal was to end slavery in the Republic. "We do not know if Spartacus wanted to abolish slavery, but if so, he aimed low. He and his men freed only gladiators, farmers, and shepherds. They avoided urban slaves, a softer and more elite group than rural workers. They rallied slaves to the cry not only of freedom but also to the themes of nationalism, religion, revenge, and riches. Another paradox: they might have been liberators but the rebels brought ruin. They devastated southern Italy in search of food and trouble."
Sources
There are two main sources on Spartacus, both of which were written a century or more after his death: Plutarch of Chaeronea (46 AD - 119 AD) and Appian of Alexandria (95 AD – AD 165). The specific works are Life of Crassus (early Second Century AD) by Plutarch and Civil Wars (early to mid Second Century AD) by Appian. Out of all surviving sources on Spartacus, none was written by eyewitnesses and are all later reconstructions; nor were the sources written by slaves or former slaves, and the earliest source was at least a generation after the war.
Early life The Greek essayist Plutarch describes Spartacus as "a Thracian of Nomadic stock", in a possible reference to the Maedi tribe. Appian says he was "a Thracian by birth, who had once served as a soldier with the Romans, but had since been a prisoner and sold for a gladiator".Appian, Civil Wars 1.116
Florus described him as one "who, from a Thracian mercenary, had become a Roman soldier, that had deserted and became enslaved, and afterward, from consideration of his strength, a gladiator".Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.8.8 The authors refer to the Thracian tribe of the Maedi, which occupied the area on the southwestern fringes of Thrace, along its border with the Roman province of Macedonia, in what is now south-western Bulgaria. Plutarch also writes that Spartacus's wife, a prophetess of the Maedi tribe, was enslaved with him.
The name Spartacus is otherwise manifested in the Black Sea region. Five out of twenty kings of the Thracian Spartocid dynasty of the Cimmerian BosporusDiodorus Siculus, Historical Library Book 12 and PontusDiodorus Siculus, Historical Library Book 16 are known to have borne the name, and a Thracian "Sparta" "Spardacus"Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.101 or "Sparadokos", father of Seuthes I of the Odrysae, is also known.
One modern author estimates that Spartacus was years old at the time he started his revolt, which would place his birth year .
Enslavement and escape
According to the differing sources and their interpretation, Spartacus was a captive taken by the legions.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116; Plutarch, Crassus, 8:2 . Note: Spartacus's status as an auxilia is taken from the Loeb edition of Appian translated by Horace White, which states "...who had once served as a soldier with the Romans...". However, the translation by John Carter in the Penguin Classics version reads: "...who had once fought against the Romans and after being taken prisoner and sold...". Spartacus was trained at the gladiatorial school (ludus) near Capua belonging to Lentulus Batiatus. He was a heavyweight gladiator called a murmillo. These fighters carried a large oblong shield (scutum), and used a sword with a broad, straight blade (gladius), about 18 inches long. In 73 BC, Spartacus was among a group of gladiators plotting an escape.Plutarch, Crassus, 8:1–2 ; Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116 ; Livy, Periochae, 95:2 ; Florus, Epitome, 2.8. Plutarch claims 78 escaped, Livy claims 74, Appian "about seventy", and Florus says "thirty or rather more men". "Choppers and spits" is from Life of Crassus.
About 70However, according to Cicero (Ad Atticum VI, ii, 8) at the beginning his followers were much less than 50. slaves were part of the plot. Though few in number, they seized kitchen utensils, fought their way free from the school, and seized several wagons of gladiatorial weapons and armour. The escaped slaves defeated soldiers sent after them, plundered the region surrounding Capua, recruited many other slaves into their ranks, and eventually retired to a more defensible position on Mount Vesuvius.Plutarch, Crassus, 9:1 .Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116 ; Florus, Epitome, 2.8.
Once free, the escaped gladiators chose Spartacus and two Gallic slaves—Crixus and Oenomaus—as their leaders. Although Roman authors assumed that the escaped slaves were a homogeneous group with Spartacus as their leader, they may have projected their own hierarchical view of military leadership onto the spontaneous organization, reducing other slave leaders to subordinate positions in their accounts.
Third Servile War
The response of the Romans was hampered by the absence of the Roman legions, which were engaged in fighting a revolt in Hispania and the Third Mithridatic War. Furthermore, the Romans considered the rebellion more of a policing matter than a war. Rome dispatched militia under the command of the praetor Gaius Claudius Glaber, who besieged Spartacus and his camp on Mount Vesuvius, hoping that starvation would force Spartacus to surrender. They were taken by surprise when Spartacus used ropes made from vines to climb down the steep side of the volcano with his men and attacked the unfortified Roman camp in the rear, killing most of the militia.Plutarch, Crassus, 9:1–3 ; Frontinus, Stratagems, Book I, 5:20–22; Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116 ; Broughton, Magistrates of the Roman Republic, p. 109.
The rebels also defeated a second expedition against them, nearly capturing the praetor commander, killing his lieutenants, and seizing the military equipment.Plutarch, Crassus, 9:4–5 ; Livy, Periochae , 95 ; Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116 ; Sallust, Histories, 3:64–67. Due to these successes, more and more slaves flocked to the Spartacan forces, as did many of the herdsmen and shepherds of the region, swelling their ranks to some 70,000.Plutarch, Crassus, 9:3 ; Appian, Civil War, 1:116 . At its height, Spartacus's army included many different peoples, including Celts, Gauls, and others. Due to the previous Social War (91–87 BC), some of Spartacus's ranks were legion veterans. Of the slaves that joined Spartacus ranks, many were from the countryside. Rural slaves lived a life that better prepared them to fight in Spartacus's army. In contrast, urban slaves were more used to city life and were considered "privileged" and "lazy."
In these altercations, Spartacus proved to be an excellent tactician, suggesting that he may have had previous military experience. Though the rebels lacked military training, they displayed skilful use of available local materials and unusual tactics against the disciplined Roman armies.Frontinus, Stratagems, Book I, 5:20–22 and Book VII:6. They spent the winter of 73–72 BC training, arming and equipping their new recruits, and expanding their raiding territory to include the towns of Nola, Nuceria, Thurii, and Metapontum.Florus, Epitome, 2.8. The distance between these locations and the subsequent events indicate that the slaves operated in two groups commanded by Spartacus and Crixus.
In the spring of 72 BC, the rebels left their winter encampments and began to move northward. At the same time, the Roman Senate, alarmed by the defeat of the praetorian forces, dispatched a pair of consular legions under the command of Lucius Gellius and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:116–117 ; Plutarch, Crassus 9:6 ; Sallust, Histories, 3:64–67. The two legions were initially successful—defeating a group of 30,000 rebels commanded by Crixus near Mount GarganusAppian, Civil Wars, 1:117 ; Plutarch, Crassus 9:7 ; Livy, Periochae 96 .—but then were defeated by Spartacus. These defeats are depicted in divergent ways by the two most comprehensive (extant) histories of the war by Appian and Plutarch.Appian, Civil Wars, 1:117 .Plutarch, Crassus, 9:7 .
Alarmed at the continued threat posed by the slaves, the Senate charged Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome and the only volunteer for the position,Appian, Civil Wars, 1:118 . with ending the rebellion. Crassus was put in charge of eight legions, numbering upwards of 40,000 trained Roman soldiers;Smith, William (1870). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, "Exercitus", p. 494 . he treated these with harsh discipline, reviving the punishment of "decimation", in which one-tenth of his men were slain to make them more afraid of him than their enemy. When Spartacus and his followers, who for unclear reasons had retreated to the south of Italy, moved northward again in early 71 BC, Crassus deployed six of his legions on the borders of the region and detached his legate Mummius with two legions to maneuver behind Spartacus. Though ordered not to engage the rebels, Mummius attacked at a seemingly opportune moment but was routed.Plutarch, Crassus, 10:1–3 . After this, Crassus's legions were victorious in several engagements, forcing Spartacus farther south through Lucania as Crassus gained the upper hand. By the end of 71 BC, Spartacus was encamped in Rhegium (Reggio Calabria), near the Strait of Messina.