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Revision as of 09:20, 22 February 2003 by Enchanter (talk | contribs) (Fix link to Iberia)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Spartacus was a Roman slave who led a large slave uprising in what is now Italy in (73 - 71 B.C.). His army of escaped gladiators and slaves defeated several Roman legions in what is known as the "Third Servile War".
Different sources claim that Spartacus was either a captured Thracian soldier or a deserter who had served in the Roman Army for while. In 73 BC he broke out of gladiators' school at Capua with 74 followers and fled to the caldera of Mount Vesuvius (near Naples). There he raised a rebel army composed of allegedly 70000 escaped slaves.
Spartacus’ forces defeated two Roman legions sent to crush them. They spent the winter on the south coast and by spring marched towards the north and Gaul. They defeated two legions on the way. At Mutina (modern-day Modena) they defeated yet another legion of Cassius Longinus, the Governor of Cisalpine Gaul.
Spartacus had apparently intended to march his army out of Italy and into Gaul. However, he changed his mind, possibly under the pressure of his followers who wanted more plunder. They marched back south and defeated two more legions under Licinius Crassus. At the end of 72 BC Spartacus was camped in Rhegium (Reggio Calabria) near the Straits of Messina.
Spartacus’ deal with Sicilian pirates to get them to Sicily fell through. In the beginning of 71 BC eight legions of Marcus Licinius Crassus isolated Spartacus’ army in Calabria. The Roman Senate also recalled Pompey from Iberia and Lucullus from northern Turkey.
Spartacus managed to break through Crassus’ lines and escape towards Brundisium (modern-day Brindisi). Crassus’ forces intercepted then in Lucania and Spartacus was killed in subsequent battle. The last survivors fled north but were killed by Pompey, coming back from Iberia.
6000 of the captured slaves were crucified along the Via Appia from Capua to Rome. Legionnaires found 3000 unharmed Roman prisoners from his camp. His body was never identified.
Many revolutionaries and the like have used the name Spartacus. They include Adam Weishaupt and left-wing Spartacus League of Weimar Republic Germany.
Howard Fast wrote historical novel Spartacus. Stanley Kubrick made his film Spartacus based on it in 1960. It starred Kirk Douglas in the title role. It was re-released in 1967 and again in 1991, with "restored" scenes that had been cut for being too racy in 1960.