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The name Spartacus is otherwise attested in the ] region: kings of the Thracian dynasty of the ]<ref>], ''Historical Library'' </ref> and ]<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Historical Library'' </ref> are known to have borne it, and a Thracian "Spardacus"<ref>], ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' ]</ref> or "Sparadokos",<ref></ref> father of ] of the ], is also known. The name Spartacus is otherwise attested in the ] region: kings of the Thracian dynasty of the ]<ref>], ''Historical Library'' </ref> and ]<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Historical Library'' </ref> are known to have borne it, and a Thracian "Spardacus"<ref>], ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' ]</ref> or "Sparadokos",<ref></ref> father of ] of the ], is also known.


===Third Servile War===
{{details|Third Servile War}}
{{sync|Third Servile War}}
==== Revolt leading to the Third Servile War ====
Spartacus was trained at the gladiatorial school (''ludus'') near ], belonging to ]. In ], Spartacus and some seventy<ref>Plutarch, ''Crassus'', ; Appian, ''Civil Wars'', ; ], ''Periochae'', ; Florus, ''Epitome of Roman History'', ]; Plutarch claims 78 escaped, Livy claims 74, Appian "about seventy", and Florus says "thirty or rather more men".</ref> followers escaped from the gladiator school of Lentulus Batiatus. Seizing the knives in the cook's shop and a wagon full of weapons, the slaves fled to the ] of ], near modern day ]. There they were joined by other rural slaves.


====
The group overran the region, plundering and pillaging. Spartacus's intention was to leave Italy and return home.
{{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- Plutarch does indeed say that it was Spartacus's goal to escape into Cisalpine Gaul, however what is the source of the statement that he attempted to restrain the looting of central Italy? --> His chief aides were gladiators from ] and ], named ], ], ] and ]. {{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- Other runaway slaves joined, increasing the numbers to several hundred.

The slave-to-Roman citizen ratio at that time was very high, making this slave rebellion a very serious threat to Rome. However Rome did not believe slaves could defeat their legions so they failed to take adequate action. All of Rome's experienced legions were away {{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- No support given for the dispersement of standing legions --> The Senate sent an inexperienced {{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- Source for the level of experience of Glaber? --> praetor, Claudius Glaber (his ] may have been Clodius; his ] is unknown), against the rebels, with a militia of about 3,000. They besieged the rebels on Vesuvius blocking their escape, but Spartacus had ropes made from vines and with his men climbed down a cliff on the other side of the volcano, to the rear of the Roman soldiers, and staged a surprise attack. Not expecting trouble from a handful of slaves, the Romans had not fortified their camp or posted adequate sentries. {{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- Source for poor defenses of camp? --> As a result, most of the Roman soldiers were still sleeping and killed in this attack, including ]. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} <!-- Source for the death of Glaber? -->After this success many runaway slaves joined Spartacus until the group grew into an army of allegedly 140,000 escaped slaves.

==== Military success continues ====
]
Spartacus is credited as an excellent ] and his experience as a former auxiliary soldier made him a formidable enemy, but his men were mostly former slave labourers who lacked military training. They hid out in the ] on ] which at that time was dormant and heavily wooded, and this enabled them to train properly for the fight with the Romans.

Due to the short amount of time expected before battle, Spartacus delegated training to the Gladiators who trained small groups, and these then trained other small groups and so on leading to the development of a fully-trained army in a matter of weeks. {{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- This is portrayed in Kubrick's MOVIE, but does it have basis in the HISTORICAL RECORDS? --> By spring they marched north towards ].

<!-- PROBLEM: The above paragraph tells of the defeat of "two more Roman legions" and then goes on to duplicate the story below, making it sound like there were FOUR legions defeated. -->
The Senate, alarmed, sent two consuls, ] and ], each with a legion, against the rebels. ] wanted to stay in Italy and plunder but Spartacus wanted to continue North {{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- The two groups obviously were geographically separate, but what source is there for the IDEOLOGICAL split? That there were conflicting desires is documented, but there is no mention of a split along these lines. --> and so, along with around 30,000 Gaul and Germanic{{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- Plutarch does indeed call Crixus's supporters Germans, but what source is there for the mixed Gallic/German nature of his men? --> supporters, Crixus left Spartacus and was later defeated by Publicola. Crixus was killed in battle. Spartacus first defeated Lentulus, and then Publicola. At Picenum in central Italy, Spartacus defeated the consular armies, then pushed north. At Mutina (now ]) they defeated yet another legion under Gaius Cassius Longinus, the ] of ] ("Gaul this side of the Alps"). <!-- PROBLEM: Appian and Plutarch disagree as to the order of events, and this account seems to mix aspects of both accounts. --> By now, Spartacus's many followers included women, children, and elderly men who tagged along.

==== Choice to remain in Italy ====

Apparently, Spartacus had intended to march his army out of Italy and into ] (now ], ] and ]) or maybe even to ] to join the rebellion of ]. {{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- Is this speculation about Hispania or Sertorius, or is there a source? Pompey was eding the Sertorian revolt about the same time as the end of the third servile war. -- >But he changed his mind and turned back south, the sources say {{Fact|date=February 2007}}, under pressure from his followers, for they wanted more plunder. Although it is not known for certain why they turned back when they were on the brink of escaping into Gaul, it is regarded as their greatest mistake. {{fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- By whom is it regarded as their greatest mistake? --> <!-- Perhaps their many victories made them overconfident, or perhaps they believed that they would escape to Sicily as planned, and could plunder more in the meantime: Speculation. To be removed after other editors have chance to cite. --> There are theories that some of the non-fighting followers (some 10,000 or so) did, in fact, cross the ] and return to their homelands. {{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- Publications citing theories? -->

The rest marched back south, and defeated two more legions under ], who at that time was the wealthiest man in Rome. At the end of ], Spartacus was encamped in Rhegium (]), near the ].

<!-- Problem: Section misses the complexity of the Crassus/Spartacus conflicts, including the DEFEATS of Spartacus and the fact that Spartacus was forced to RETREAT south to Rhegium -->

Spartacus's deal with ] ] to get them to ] fell through. In the beginning of ], eight legions of Crassus isolated Spartacus's army in ]. With the assassination of ], the ] also recalled{{Fact|date=July 2007}} <!-- Pompey's legions were indeed pressed into helping Crassus, but it is unclear that they were recalled, or the Senate took advantage of them already being en route home. --> ] from ]; and ] from ].

Spartacus managed to break through Crassus's lines and escape towards ] (now Brindisi), but Pompey's forces intercepted them in ], and the slaves were routed in a subsequent battle at the river ], where Spartacus is believed to have fallen. According to ], "Finally, after his companions had taken to flight, he (Spartacus) stood alone, surrounded by a multitude of foes, and was still defending himself when he was cut down".<ref></ref> According to ], "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 body of Spartacus was not found.<ref></ref>

After the battle, legionaries found and rescued 3,000 unharmed Roman prisoners in their camp. 6,600 of Spartacus's followers were ] along the ] (or the ]) from ] to ]. Crassus never gave orders for the bodies to be taken down, thus travelers were forced to see the bodies for years after the final battle.

<!-- PROBLEM: Above section has Pompey destroying Spartacus's army (incorrectly, see Plutarch's Life of Crassus and Life of Pompey) and now ALSO coming back out of the north fortuitously and captured those fleeing the battle . -->

Around 5,000 slaves, however, escaped the capture. They fled north and were later destroyed by ], who was coming back from ]. This enabled him also to claim credit for ending this war. Pompey was greeted as a hero in Rome while Crassus received little credit or celebration.


== Modern depictions of Spartacus == == Modern depictions of Spartacus ==

Revision as of 20:04, 20 July 2008

For other uses, see the historical figure.
Spartacus by Denis Foyatier, 1830

Spartacus (c. 109 BC-71 BC), according to Roman historians, was a slave who became the leader (or possibly one of several leaders) in the unsuccessful slave uprising against the Roman Republic known as the Third Servile War. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and the surviving historical accounts are inaccurate and often contradictory. Spartacus's struggle, often seen as the fight for an oppressed people fighting for their freedom against a slave-owning aristocracy, has found new meaning for modern writers since the 19th century. The figure of Spartacus, and his rebellion, has become an inspiration to many modern literary and political writers, who have made the character of Spartacus an ancient/modern folk hero.

Ancient depictions of Spartacus

Spartacus's origins

Thracian tribes & Spartacus clique,the Maedi

The ancient sources do not agree on Spartacus's origins. Plutarch describes him as "a Greek of nomadic stock", although this reading is disputed: where some editions give Νομαδικοῦ, others give Μαιδικοῦ, which Konrad Ziegler argues, refers to the Thracian tribe of the Medi. Plutarch also says Spartacus's wife, a prophetess of the same tribe, was enslaved with him. 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". Florus says he "had become a Roman soldier, of a soldier a deserter and robber, and afterwards, from consideration of his strength, a gladiator". "Thracian" was a style of gladiatorial combat in which the gladiator fought with a round shield and a short sword or dagger, and it has been argued that this may have confused the sources about his geographical origins, although no alternative origin is attested. The name Spartacus is otherwise attested in the Black Sea region: kings of the Thracian dynasty of the Cimmerian Bosporus and Pontus are known to have borne it, and a Thracian "Spardacus" or "Sparadokos", father of Seuthes I of the Odrysae, is also known.


==

Modern depictions of Spartacus

Politics

Artistic

Film

  • Most famously, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Howard Fast's novel, as Spartacus, in 1960. The catchphrase "I'm Spartacus!" from this film has been referenced in a number of other films, television programs, and commercials.
  • Just before the members of The Wonders are about to play the biggest show of their careers during one of the final scenes of Tom Hanks' 1996 film That Thing You Do! the band's lead guitarist Lenny Haise asks, "Skitch, how did we get here?" Drummer Guy Patterson replies, "I led you here, sir, for I am Spartacus."
  • In 2004, Fast's novel was adapted as Spartacus, a made-for-TV movie or miniseries by the USA Network, with Goran Višnjić in the main role.

Literature

Music

Videogames

Sport

Other

References

  1. Plutarch, Crassus 8
  2. Appian, Civil Wars 1.116
  3. Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.8
  4. William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities: "Gladiatores"
  5. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library Book 12
  6. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library Book 16
  7. Theucidides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.101
  8. Tribes, Dynasts and Kingdoms of Northern Greece: History and Numismatics
  9. History of Spartak, fcspartak.ru Template:Ru icon
  10. Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, volume 24 (part 1), p. 286, Moscow, Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya publisher, 1976

Bibliography

Classical authors

  • Appian. Civil Wars. Translated by J. Carter. (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1996)
  • Florus. Epitome of Roman History. (London: W. Heinemann, 1947)
  • Orosius. The Seven Books of History Against the Pagans. Translated by Roy J. Deferrari. (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1964).
  • Plutarch. Fall of the Roman Republic. Translated by R. Warner. (London: Penguin Books, 1972), with special emphasis placed on "The Life of Crassus" and "The Life of Pompey".
  • Sallust. Conspiracy of Catiline and the War of Jugurtha. (London: Constable, 1924)

Modern historiography

  • Bradley, Keith R. Slavery and Rebellion in the Roman World, 140 B.C.–70 B.C. Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1989 (hardcover, ISBN 0-253-31259-0); 1998 (paperback, ISBN 0-253-21169-7). The Slave War of Spartacus, pp. 83–101.
  • Rubinsohn, Wolfgang Zeev. Spartacus' Uprising and Soviet Historical Writing. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 1987 (paperback, ISBN 0-9511243-1-5).
  • Spartacus: Film and History, edited by Martin M. Winkler. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2007 (hardcover, ISBN 1405131802; paperback, ISBN 1405131810).
  • Trow, M.J. Spartacus: The Myth and the Man. Stroud, United Kingdom: Sutton Publishing, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 0-7509-3907-9).
  • Genner, Michael. "Spartakus. Eine Gegengeschichte des Altertums nach den Legenden der Zigeuner". Two volumes. Paperback. Trikont Verlag, Munchen 1979/1980. Vol 1 ISBN 3-88167-053-X Vol 2 ISBN 3-88167-060-2

==External .com/title/tt0054331/ "Spartacus"—Movie starring Kirk Douglas and Sir Peter Ustinov]

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