From enslavement to rebel gladiator: The life of Spartacus - Fiona Radford
As the warrior slept,
a snake coiled around his face.
Instead of a threat, his wife saw an omen–
a fearsome power that would lead
her husband to either glory or doom.
For now, however, he was only a slave –
one of millions taken from the territories
conquered by Rome to work the mines,
till the fields,
or fight for the crowd’s entertainment.
A nomadic Thracian from
what is now Bulgaria,
he had served in the Roman Army
but was imprisoned for desertion.
His name was Spartacus.
Spartacus had been brought to Capua
by Batiatus, a lanista,
or trainer of gladiators.
And life at the ludus, or gladiator
school, was unforgiving.
New recruits were forced to swear an oath
“to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten,
and to be killed by the sword,”
and to obey their master’s will
without question.
But even harsh discipline couldn’t
break Spartacus’s spirit.
In 73 BCE, Spartacus led 73 other slaves
to seize knives and skewers from the
kitchen and fight their way out,
hijacking a wagon of gladiator equipment
along the way.
They were done fighting for others–
now, they fought for their freedom.
When the news reached Rome,
the Senate was too busy with wars in
Spain and the Pontic Empire
to worry about some unruly slaves.
Unconcerned, praetor Claudius Glaber took
an army of three thousand men
to the rebel’s refuge at Mount Vesuvius,
and blocked off the only passage
up the mountain.
All that remained was to wait and
starve them out–
or so he thought.
In the dead of night,
the rebels lowered themselves down the
cliffside on ropes made from vines,
and flanked Glaber’s unguarded camp.
Thus began the legend of Rome’s
defiant gladiator.
As news of the rebellion spread,
its ranks swelled with escaped slaves,
deserting soldiers, and hungry peasants.
Many were untrained,
but Spartacus’s clever tactics
transformed them
into an effective guerrilla force.
A second Roman expedition led by praetor
Varinius,
was ambushed while the officer bathed.
To elude the remaining Roman forces,
the rebels used their enemy’s corpses as
decoy guards,
stealing Varinius’s own horse
to aid their escape.
Thanks to his inspiring victories
and policy of distributing spoils equally,
Spartacus continued attracting followers,
and gained control of villages
where new weapons could be forged.
The Romans soon realized they were
no longer facing ragtag fugitives,
and in the spring of 72 BCE,
the Senate retaliated with
the full force of two legions.
The rebels left victorious,
but many lives were lost in the battle,
including Spartacus’ lieutenant Crixus.
To honor him,
Spartacus held funeral games,
forcing his Roman prisoners to play the
role his fellow rebels had once endured.
By the end of 72 BCE,
Spartacus’ army was a massive force of
roughly 120,000 members.
But those numbers proved
difficult to manage.
With the path to the Alps clear,
Spartacus wanted to march
beyond Rome’s borders,
where his followers would be free.
But his vast army had grown brash.
Many wanted to continue pillaging,
while others dreamed of
marching on Rome itself.
In the end, the rebel army turned south–
forgoing what would be their
last chance at freedom.
Meanwhile, Marcus Licinius Crassus
had assumed control of the war.
As Rome’s wealthiest citizen,
he pursued Spartacus
with eight new legions,
eventually trapping the rebels
in the toe of Italy.
After failed attempts to build rafts,
and a stinging betrayal by local pirates,
the rebels made a desperate run
to break through Crassus’s lines–
but it was no use.
Roman reinforcements were returning
from the Pontic wars,
and the rebels’ ranks and
spirits were broken.
In 71 BCE, they made their last stand.
Spartacus nearly managed to reach Crassus
before being cut down by centurions.
His army was destroyed,
and 6000 captives were crucified
along the Appian Way–
a haunting demonstration
of Roman authority.
Crassus won the war,
but it is not his legacy which echoes
through the centuries.
Thousands of years later,
the name of the slave who made the
world’s mightiest empire tremble
has become synonymous with freedom–
and the courage to fight for it.
