Spartacus. Spartacus Facts. Born. 10. 9 BCDied. BCNationality. Thracian. Occupation. Gladiator. Spartacus Articles.

Explore articles from the History Net archives about Spartacus» See all Spartacus Articles. Spartacus summary: Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator. Little is known about his life before he became one of the slave leaders in the Third Servile War, the slave uprising war against the Roman Republic. Spartacus may have served in the Roman Army.

It is generally believed he deserted, and some sources say he led bandit raids. What is known is that he was captured and sold into slavery. In 7. 3 BC (BCE) he escaped from a gladiatorial training school at Capua along with some 7. Other runaway slaves soon joined them.

Rome's legions were sorely challenged by rebellious slaves and gladiators led up and down the Italian boot by Spartacus -- a most determined Thracian.By Kenneth P. Czech.

Taking refuge on Mount Vesuvius, the gladiators trained the others in at least rudimentary combat skills. Spartacus is believed to have been the leader of the gladiators’ revolt, and he shared leadership of the slave army with two Gauls, Crixus and Oenamus.

Initially, Rome did not regard the slave army as a serious force and did not send first- line troops against it; Spartacus’ army outmaneuvered and defeated the first four forces it confronted. More slaves joined; at its peak, the army is believed to have been 9. Spartacus advocated crossing the Alps to put distance between the army and Rome and find freedom. One of his co- commanders, Crixus, wanted to attack Rome itself, where large numbers of slaves would likely swell their ranks even more. Crixus broke off from the main force, taking 3.

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Spartacus won three more engagements and then, for unknown reasons, turned south instead of crossing the Alps, throwing Rome into panic. A new Roman military force, under a competent commander named Marcus Crassus, was sent to deal with the rebellious slave army. After a long period of pursuit and a few engagements, the slave army was defeated near the headwaters of the Siler River in southern Italy. Spartacus was killed, but his body was never found. Some 6,0. 00 rebellious slaves were crucified as a warning to others.

The story of Spartacus has served as inspiration for books, movies and a television series. He has often been made into a symbol for oppressed people rebelling to overturn their society, but in point of fact he tried to lead his army to safety and freedom for themselves outside Rome’s reach and never attempted to overthrow Roman society. Featured Article About Spartacus From History Net Magazines. Ancient History: Spartacus and the Slave Rebellion. By Kenneth P. Czech. Rome trembled at the grave rumors in 7. The vaunted Roman legions had been defeated, their noble standards captured.

News of atrocities against slaveholding landowners dominated conversation in Rome’s marketplaces and public buildings. The very name of the slave rebellion’s leader, Spartacus, generated terror.

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Slave insurrections were not really new to Rome. Extreme cruelty to slaves had sparked a revolt on the island of Sicily in 1.

More than 7. 0,0. Roman army triumphed over the rebels two years later. A second servile war erupted on the island in 1. After four years of bloody fighting, the last remnants of that rebel horde were captured by Roman consul Manius Aquillius and shipped to Rome to fight wild beasts in the arena. But those revolts had been in far- off Sicily.

The new insurrection threatened Rome itself, a city where a great percentage of the inhabitants were slaves. To make matters worse, several legions had already been demolished by the slave army. Forming the nucleus of the threat were gladiators–prisoners of war, convicts and slaves specially trained to fight and kill one another as entertainment for crowds packing amphitheaters throughout Latin lands. Notoriously tough and highly skilled, the gladiators surging toward Rome had little to lose. Facing death in the arena on an almost daily basis, these warrior- slaves felt their only key to freedom lay in crushing Rome itself. Combats between trained warriors had first surfaced to commemorate funerals during the First Punic War in 2.

In 1. 74 bc, 7. 4 gladiators fought each other during a three- day span as part of special funeral ceremonies for wealthy Romans. The first officially sponsored gladiatorial ‘games were held nearly 7. As the Roman appetite for blood sports grew, thousands of prisoners captured in Rome’s numerous wars of conquest were trundled off to specially constructed training centers, or schools, to prepare them for the games. The gladiators took their name from the Latin word gladius, the short sword favored by many of the combatants. Early gladiators were outfitted with an ornately wrought visored helmet, a shield and an armored sleeve worn on the right arm, after the fashion of Samnite warriors defeated by Rome in the late 3rd century bc. Samnite- style gladiators relied on their swords.

Other gladiator styles evolved from the national themes of the lands conquered by Rome. Thracian- style gladiators, for instance, carried a sica–a curved, short- bladed scimitar–and a round buckler. Gaul- style gladiators wielded long swords and rectangular or oval shields.

Another gladiator type, more exotically accoutered and called retiarius, fought with a trident, a dagger and a fishing net strung to the wrist by a thong and designed to ensnare an opponent and draw him into harpooning range. Pairing the warriors was done by drawing lots. Mercy was rarely offered in the arena, with crowds often controlling the immediate fortunes of a wounded gladiator by signaling or calling for life or death. While several noted Roman writers applauded the games as invigorating spectacles, the writer- philosopher Seneca abhorred them, commenting: I come home more greedy, more cruel and inhuman, because I have been among human beings…. Man, a sacred thing to man, is killed for sport and merriment. A number of gladiator training schools sprang up throughout Italy, concentrated near the town of Capua, north of present- day Naples.

At such schools, gladiators received training in a variety of weapons, though they usually specialized in one. Diets were carefully observed, and a strict exercise regimen was maintained. Discipline and punishment were harsh. It may have been pure brutality that convinced 7.

Lentulus Batiatus, near Capua, in 7. The gladiators, who had been severely treated, sallied from their quarters and overpowered their guards with cleavers and spits seized from some kitchen, reported Roman historian Plutarch. After scrambling over the school’s walls, the slaves were fortunate to find a wagon transporting gladiators’ weapons to another city. Armed with these familiar–if not military- issue–weapons, the little band had suddenly become a dangerous fighting force. Masterminding the revolt, according to the sources, was Spartacus, a Thracian by birth who may even have once served as an auxiliary in the Roman army before being sold into slavery.

Sharing command were two Gauls: Crixus and Oenamus. The triumvirate raided the countryside, terrorizing landowners in the lush Campania farming district. Field hands and house slaves, many armed with farm tools and kitchen utensils, declared their own freedom by joining the gladiators.

As word of the insurrection spread, Spartacus led his force up the slopes of the dormant volcano Vesuvius. Close on his heels was a hastily assembled army of 3,0. Clodius Glaber. Poorly trained and untested, the militia was usually sent to control riots or outbreaks of brigandage, while the solid legions of the regular army were used primarily in foreign conquests.