Spartacus: The Slave Who Made Rome Tremble,Spartacus,history of Spartacus,biography of Spartacus
Spartacus: 
The Slave Who Made Rome TrembleAccording to legend, Spartacus’s wife walked in on her sleeping husband one night to findthat a snake had wrapped itself around his face. Instead of being alarmed, she took this asa prophecy. Just like the serpent surrounded itself aroundthe warrior’s head, so shall Spartacus be enveloped by a “great and fearful power”. One thing the woman could not see, however,was if this power would lead her husband to glory or disaster. In the end, you will have to decide for yourselfwhat the outcome was. Spartacus might have lost the war, sure, butnot before making the all-powerful Roman Republic tremble at his feet. At a time when the might of Rome was continuouslyexpanding all over the Mediterranean, a mere slave led an uprising the likes of which theworld had never seen. He defeated wave after wave of Roman armiesand looked, for a while at least, powerful enough to march on Rome itself. His actions turned Spartacus into much morethan a warrior. He became a symbol in the fight against oppression. A symbol which is still pervasive today, over2,000 years later.
They say that history is written by the victorsso, in that case, Spartacus’s omen was, indeed, one of glory. Nobody mentions the success of Crassus inputting down a slave uprising. Instead, they talk about the triumph and thebravery of Spartacus. Early YearsUnsurprisingly, details are scarce regarding Spartacus’s life before he rose up and becamethe bane of Rome. Even the particulars we do know cannot betaken for granted because different ancient sources give varying accounts. Image suggestion: Spartacus statueEveryone seems to agree that Spartacus was a Thracian born sometime around the year 111BCE. Plutarch, one of the main sources for the“War of Spartacus”, as he called it, referred to the warrior as having “nomadic stock”and described him as being sagacious and culturally superior, practically “more Hellenic thanThracian”. Some modern scholars have speculated thatthe word “nomadic” was a mistranslation made later and that Plutarch, actually, referredto Spartacus of being of “Maedi stock”. The Maedi were a Thracian tribe from thosetimes which existed in modern-day Bulgaria. Eventually, Spartacus ended up fighting inthe Roman army as an auxiliary unit. At one point, the Thracian earned the scornof the Romans who captured him and sold him into slavery. Again, sources vary as to the reason why - somesay that Spartacus deserted, others that he led raiding parties, or, perhaps, both. Life as a SlaveAs a slave, Spartacus caught the eye of one Lentulus Batiatus, a Roman who owned a gladiatorschool called a “ludus” in Capua.
He was always on the lookout for strong Gaulsand Thracians who could shed some blood for the pleasure of the crowd. Image suggestion: MurmilloIn the arena, Spartacus took on the role of a heavyweight gladiator called a “murmillo”. The look of this warrior is a Hollywood favoriteand will be familiar to anyone who saw or played anything set in gladiator times. The murmillo wore a full bronze helmet andheavy arm, leg, or shoulder guards. However, he kept his chest bare which oftenallowed warriors to display the tattoos or battle scars they accrued over the years. The gladiator typically wielded a large shieldcalled a “scutum” and a straight broadsword called a “gladius”. Although Spartacus has always been depictedin movies and TV shows as a prodigious fighter, we actually do not know anything about hissuccess in the arena. Since these battles were usually to the death,he was, presumably, skilled enough to survive until the uprising started. Either that or he was entertaining enoughto convince the crowd to spare him, even if he lost. The Start of the UprisingIn the year 73 BCE, Spartacus was part of a plot to escape Batiatus’s gladiator school. The number differs - Plutarch says 78 slavesarmed themselves with utensils from the kitchen, defeated the guards and made a run for it. During their escape, they ran into carts fullof gladiator weapons being sent to another city. They plundered the wagons and armed themselvesproperly. The former slaves decided to seek refuge onMount Vesuvius which offered a stronger defensive position. On their way there, they recruited other slaves,as well as freemen who wanted to join their cause. Ancient sources never really made it clearwhat exactly Spartacus did or said to the other slaves to convince them that he shouldbe their leader. One factor which certainly played a part wasthe fact that the men split all their plunder equally. But it should be mentioned that historiansalso named two Gauls - Crixus and Oenomaus - as leaders of the revolt. While some described them as being the equalsof Spartacus, others like Appian referred to them as subordinate officers.
The Battle of Mount VesuviusIt is fair to say that when the Roman Senate heard about Spartacus and his little uprising,they did not take it too seriously. We may mock them for it now but, back then,this made some sense. Rome had quite a few other problems on itshands that required its attention and, more importantly, its soldiers. In the Iberian Peninsula, Rome was engagedin the Sertorian War against Quintus Sertorius, a former Roman statesman who chose the losingside during the Second Civil War of the Roman Republic, but refused to concede defeat. Over in Asia Minor, Rome was fighting theThird Mithridatic War against the Kingdom of Pontus led by Mithridates VI. This eventually resulted in a decisive victoryfor Rome and the end of the Pontic Empire, but not until ten more years of vicious battles. As you can see, Rome had its plate full. Therefore, the revolt of the gladiators wasdismissed as nothing more but a crime wave that could be solved with a cohort or two. In charge of this force was a praetor namedGaius Claudius Glaber of which we know almost nothing. His name suggests he could have had some kindof distant connection with the influential Claudii family, but, really, his only appearancein the history record is his battle against Spartacus. He is never mentioned again - whether thismeans he died in battle or he never did anything else of note, we just don’t know. Anyway, Glaber’s army consisted of approximately3,000 militia, not proper Roman legionaries. Again, the fact that the Senate sent an unprovenmilitary commander leading untrained militia revealed how little they were concerned withthis uprising. Glaber and his units chased the gladiatorsto their camp on Mount Vesuvius and laid siege on the only road down the mountain. His plan was to simply wait for the insurgentsto starve to death. It seemed like a fine strategy, albeit a tadunoriginal. Spartacus did not have this problem. In fact, his side deployed a much more novelgame plan. He knew that Glaber was only paying attentionto the side with the descent because all the others consisted of steep cliffs which were,seemingly, impassable. However, he and his men made rope laddersout of wild vines that were plentiful in the area and rappelled down undetected by theRomans.
They then surrounded Glaber’s camp and easilydefeated his forces in a surprise attack. In the end, all this expedition managed todo was to supply the rebels with better weapons and armor and to help bolster their numbersas more people heard of their exploits. The Second ExpeditionOn the second attempt, Rome sent another praetor named either Publius Varinius or Publius Valerius. There are no juicy details to share regardingthese fights. Just the fact that Spartacus and his men triumphedagain. First they defeated one of the praetor’slieutenants named Furius who had two thousand soldiers with him. Then, another praetor called Cossinius whohad been sent out with another large force to offer support to Varinius. He was almost taken prisoner by the insurgentsas the gladiators caught his camp off-guard while the praetor was bathing. Lastly, the rebels defeated Varinius and,as a symbol of his victory, Spartacus took the praetor’s horse. Now, the gladiator army was free to raid thecountryside of Italy unopposed as more and more men from the region swelled their ranks. According to Appian, Spartacus’s army boastedover 70,000 soldiers. Presumably, Oenomaus died around this time,possibly in battle, as he is no longer mentioned by historians. Spartacus and Crixus are referred to as thecommanders of the rebel army. At this point, the insurgents reached a possiblecrossroads in their journey, one which still divides both classical and modern scholars. According to Plutarch, Spartacus wanted totraverse the Alps and escape Roman territory. In his view, the Thracian planned to disbandthe army once it had secured freedom. However, Spartacus could not convince hismen who were feeling cocky enough that they wanted to continue raiding. Other sources claimed that the plan was (andhad always been) to march on Rome.
The notion that there was some dissensionin the ranks regarding their next move was strengthened by the fact that, at one point,the rebels split into two armies - one was led by Spartacus, the other by Crixus. Whether this division was strategic so theycould cover more ground or it was caused by disagreements, we cannot say with any certainty. The Death of CrixusBy this point, the Senate realized that the littleuprising caused by the escaped slaves was no laughing matter and it was only growingin power. Some have argued that the Roman leaders werereticent to unleash the true might of Rome because it would have been an admittance ofdefeat, in of itself. Just the idea that a few enslaved Thracians,Germans, and Gauls could threaten the Roman Republic was an embarrassment. But after a year of the rebels running wild,the Senate had had enough. In 72 BC, it tasked two consuls, Gellius andLentulus, to put an end to the uprising, and each one commanded a Roman legion. The exact size of a legion actually variedthroughout the history of Rome. According to Livy, during the Republic, theSenate set the size at the start of the year based on availability and circumstances. Although typically a legion contained around4,000 infantry and a few hundred cavalry, it would vary anywhere between 3,000 and 6,000soldiers. Regardless of how many men the legions had,they were still vastly outnumbered by the insurgent forces. However, what they lacked in manpower, theymore than made up for with strict military training and top-of-the-line equipment. Spartacus’s forces, on the other hand, consistedmostly of peasants, deserters, slaves, and shepherds. Very few of them stood a chance against aRoman soldier in combat. Image suggestion: Roman tortoise formationHere we arrive at a bit of a contentious moment because the two main sources, Plutarch andAppian, give differing accounts on the battles between Spartacus and the consular armies.
They do not necessarily contradict each other,but they each mention events that the other ignores. As I said previously, the rebel forces splitinto two armies. Both historians agree that Gellius and hislegion fought Crixus who commanded around 30,000 men near Mount Garganus. This encounter resulted in a decisive victoryfor the Romans. The rebel army lost around two thirds of itstroops, including Crixus who was killed in battle. When hearing of this, Spartacus allegedlysacrificed 300 Roman soldiers in his honor. Fighting the Consular ArmiesBoth sources also agree that Spartacus and the main insurgent force faced the army ofLentulus while heading for Cisalpine Gaul and triumphed. Afterwards, however, they start to differ. We have to remember that even the best sourceswe have for the War of Spartacus wrote their accounts over 150 years after the uprisinghad taken place. Many details could have been altered or forgotten. According to Appian, Gellius and his men headedtowards Spartacus after defeating Crixus. His hope was that he would reach the Spartacanarmy in time and trap it between the two legions commanded by him and Lentulus. He was too late, though, and the Thracianhad time to best the other consul, turn his soldiers around and defeat Gellius in combat,also.
The two consular legions retreated and regroupedback in Rome. They then united as a single army and madea third attempt against Spartacus at Picenum. They were defeated, once again. Plutarch makes no mention of Spartacus’sfight against Gellius or the Battle at Picenum against both consuls. Instead, he says that, after the Thracianbested Lentulus, he engaged in combat with an army of 10,000 men led by Gaius CassiusLonginus, the governor of Cisalpine Gaul. Once again, he was victorious. There is also some confusion regarding whathappened after Spartacus defeated the consular armies. While Plutarch offers no concrete information,Appian, more or less, places Spartacus on the warpath to Rome. Maybe it was the death of Crixus, or maybehe thought himself invincible in battle, but Spartacus seemed determined to pillage mightyRome itself. He killed all his prisoners and his pack animalsand set fire to any useless materials that might have burdened and slowed him down. He marched on the capital with an army of120,000 footmen. Despite his gung-ho attitude, Spartacus hada change of heart on the way and realized that, perhaps, his army was not strong enoughjust yet. Instead, he took over the city of Thurii andthe surrounding mountains and conducted raids for bronze and iron to forge weapons and equiphis troops. Marcus Licinius CrassusThe Senate dropped any pretense that the Spartacan rebellion was anything else than a major threatthat endangered the Republic itself.
It gave the task of putting down the uprisingonce and for all to Marcus Licinius Crassus. Image suggestion: Bust of CrassusCrassus is primarily remembered today for, allegedly, being the richest man in Romanhistory. The true extent of his wealth is impossibleto gauge with accuracy, but it could have been up to $20 billion in modern currency. The number most commonly used is 200 millionsestertii, an estimation provided by Pliny. Plutarch used gold talents to quantify Crassus’swealth and placed it at over 7,100 talents which would mean, in modern terms, 213 metrictons of gold. Crassus’s fortune came from “fire andwar, making the public calamities his greatest source of revenue”, as Plutarch put it. Some of his lucrative businesses includeda fire department that arrived at a burning home and only extinguished the flames if itnegotiated a generous bargain with the owner. Otherwise, the men simply looked on as thehome burned to the ground. Afterwards, Crassus even offered to buy theproperty (at a significantly-reduced price, of course). Another one of his schemes was a school forslaves. By taking cheap, unskilled labor and givingthem training, he increased their value significantly and then sold them on for a tidy profit. The bulk of Crassus’s wealth, however, camefrom real estate.
He was an ally of Sulla, the Roman generalwho prompted a Civil War that involved the aforementioned Quintus Sertorius. After his triumph, Sulla enacted proscriptions,meaning that all of his powerful enemies were either put to death or banished and theirpossessions confiscated and put up at auction. This allowed Crassus to purchase massive amountsof land and property for next to nothing. Going back to the war, Crassus was not onlyrich, but also had high political aspirations. He knew that putting down this rebellion wouldsecure his position in the Senate. He used his own money to equip and train newtroops. He was made a praetor and was granted commandof six new legions, plus what was left of the two consular armies. The DecimationAt first, it looked like this military expedition would end like all the others. While Crassus and the bulk of his army waitedfor Spartacus on the borders of Picenum, he sent his legate, Mummius, with two legionsto circle around and approach the rebellion army from behind. Crassus gave explicit orders not to attackthe insurgents or even to engage in skirmishes. Mummius disobeyed, feeling like he had anadvantageous position. He attacked and he lost. Clearly, Crassus needed to teach some discipline,something he accomplished with an extreme measure. He revived a punishment that had not beenused for almost 200 years - decimation.
The soldiers were divided into decades - adecade, here, simply meaning a group of ten. They drew lots and the losing soldier fromevery decade was executed. Again, there is a bit of disagreement overwho Crassus decimated, exactly. Plutarch said it was only one cohort of 500or so soldiers. Appian, however, believed it was either thetwo consular legions or his entire army after a defeat. This is a pretty big detail because it makesthe difference between the execution of 50 soldiers, more or less, and the executionof thousands. Either way, the tactic seemed to work, andCrassus showed his men that he was “more dangerous...than the enemy”. Victories for Both SidesCrassus’s methods might have been harsh, but they yielded results. The following times that the armies met inbattle, the Romans were victorious. Spartacus was forced to retreat to a regionin southern Italy called Lucania. Plutarch reports that the Thracian plannedto take over the island of Sicily and regroup there. For this, he negotiated passage with a groupof Cilician pirates. However, with pirates being pirates, theydouble-crossed him and sailed away after being paid. Spartacus had his back against the wall sohe fell back to the peninsula of Rhegium. Crassus felt that he had victory in his grasp,but he was wise enough not to underestimate the Thracian as many had done before him. Instead of forcing a battle, he built fortificationsacross the isthmus to the peninsula so that the rebels would be cut off from any provisions.
Indeed, this tactic split the rebellious fightersinto two groups. One of them broke through the siege and startedtheir own raiding campaign. Crassus fell upon them swiftly and destroyedthem in battle, but he was disheartened to see that their fighting spirit had not beenextinguished. Although he killed over 12,000 insurgents,upon inspection, only two of them had wounds in their backs. All the others had died facing their enemy,fighting until their last breath. Meanwhile, Crassus sent another army led byone of his officers, Quintus, to pursue the Spartacan forces which fled to the mountains. The gladiator turned his troops around andmet the Romans in battle and was triumphant. Bolstered by this recent victory, the rebelswanted to take on the main army of Crassus. The Arrival of PompeyOne final, decisive battle suited Crassus just fine. Although at first he seemed content with weakeningthe insurgents as much as possible, now he was fighting against the clock as he receivednews that Roman reinforcements were on the way.
Pompey the Great had managed to put down theSertorian rebellion in the Iberian Peninsula and had redirected his forces to take on Spartacus. Another commander named Lucullus was alsocoming with additional soldiers. You would think that the arrival of reinforcementswould be good news for Crassus, but he had no intention of sharing credit with anyonefor putting down the largest rebellion in Roman history. Before making his last stand, Spartacus actuallytried to call a truce with Crassus, but the Roman praetor rejected it categorically. To fulfill his ambitions, nothing but theabsolute obliteration of the revolt would have sufficed. The armies met at the Battle of the SilariusRiver. The Spartacan troops fought hard, but weresoundly defeated. Around 36,000 of them died in battle. Around 6,000 more were taken prisoner by Crassusand were all crucified along the Appian Way. About 5,000 rebels managed to flee the battle,but they were met by Pompey who cut them to pieces. Image suggestion: Appian WayTriumph Pompey told Rome that, even though Crassuswon the battle, he “extirpated the war”. Accordingly, for this and his victory in Hispania,he was given a major triumph upon his return and made consul. In this case, a triumph is a Roman ritualwhich celebrates a general’s successes in battle. Crassus was later made a censor with Pompey’ssupport. He also won over the masses of Rome by usinghis money to throw a giant feast in honor of Hercules and paying for everyone’s grainallowance for three months.
The two of them later formed an informal alliancecalled the First Triumvirate alongside another Roman up-and-comer named Julius Caesar. The Fate of SpartacusIt would have been nice if we could have ended with one final anecdote about Spartacus sincethis bio is about him, after all. Unfortunately, history is seldom that accommodating. He died in battle - killed at an unknown timeby an unknown soldier - and his body was never recovered. Even though he had no possible way of knowingthis, Plutarch thought to provide a more fitting end for the Thracian who tried to bring Rometo its knees. He claimed that, during battle, Spartacuscut his way through the enemy ranks and tried to reach Crassus himself, but was stoppedwhen two dead centurions fell upon him. He was then completely surrounded and cutdown while fighting to the bitter end.
The Slave Who Made Rome TrembleAccording to legend, Spartacus’s wife walked in on her sleeping husband one night to findthat a snake had wrapped itself around his face. Instead of being alarmed, she took this asa prophecy. Just like the serpent surrounded itself aroundthe warrior’s head, so shall Spartacus be enveloped by a “great and fearful power”. One thing the woman could not see, however,was if this power would lead her husband to glory or disaster. In the end, you will have to decide for yourselfwhat the outcome was. Spartacus might have lost the war, sure, butnot before making the all-powerful Roman Republic tremble at his feet. At a time when the might of Rome was continuouslyexpanding all over the Mediterranean, a mere slave led an uprising the likes of which theworld had never seen. He defeated wave after wave of Roman armiesand looked, for a while at least, powerful enough to march on Rome itself. His actions turned Spartacus into much morethan a warrior. He became a symbol in the fight against oppression. A symbol which is still pervasive today, over2,000 years later.
He was always on the lookout for strong Gaulsand Thracians who could shed some blood for the pleasure of the crowd. Image suggestion: MurmilloIn the arena, Spartacus took on the role of a heavyweight gladiator called a “murmillo”. The look of this warrior is a Hollywood favoriteand will be familiar to anyone who saw or played anything set in gladiator times. The murmillo wore a full bronze helmet andheavy arm, leg, or shoulder guards. However, he kept his chest bare which oftenallowed warriors to display the tattoos or battle scars they accrued over the years. The gladiator typically wielded a large shieldcalled a “scutum” and a straight broadsword called a “gladius”. Although Spartacus has always been depictedin movies and TV shows as a prodigious fighter, we actually do not know anything about hissuccess in the arena. Since these battles were usually to the death,he was, presumably, skilled enough to survive until the uprising started. Either that or he was entertaining enoughto convince the crowd to spare him, even if he lost. The Start of the UprisingIn the year 73 BCE, Spartacus was part of a plot to escape Batiatus’s gladiator school. The number differs - Plutarch says 78 slavesarmed themselves with utensils from the kitchen, defeated the guards and made a run for it. During their escape, they ran into carts fullof gladiator weapons being sent to another city. They plundered the wagons and armed themselvesproperly. The former slaves decided to seek refuge onMount Vesuvius which offered a stronger defensive position. On their way there, they recruited other slaves,as well as freemen who wanted to join their cause. Ancient sources never really made it clearwhat exactly Spartacus did or said to the other slaves to convince them that he shouldbe their leader. One factor which certainly played a part wasthe fact that the men split all their plunder equally. But it should be mentioned that historiansalso named two Gauls - Crixus and Oenomaus - as leaders of the revolt. While some described them as being the equalsof Spartacus, others like Appian referred to them as subordinate officers.
The Battle of Mount VesuviusIt is fair to say that when the Roman Senate heard about Spartacus and his little uprising,they did not take it too seriously. We may mock them for it now but, back then,this made some sense. Rome had quite a few other problems on itshands that required its attention and, more importantly, its soldiers. In the Iberian Peninsula, Rome was engagedin the Sertorian War against Quintus Sertorius, a former Roman statesman who chose the losingside during the Second Civil War of the Roman Republic, but refused to concede defeat. Over in Asia Minor, Rome was fighting theThird Mithridatic War against the Kingdom of Pontus led by Mithridates VI. This eventually resulted in a decisive victoryfor Rome and the end of the Pontic Empire, but not until ten more years of vicious battles. As you can see, Rome had its plate full. Therefore, the revolt of the gladiators wasdismissed as nothing more but a crime wave that could be solved with a cohort or two. In charge of this force was a praetor namedGaius Claudius Glaber of which we know almost nothing. His name suggests he could have had some kindof distant connection with the influential Claudii family, but, really, his only appearancein the history record is his battle against Spartacus. He is never mentioned again - whether thismeans he died in battle or he never did anything else of note, we just don’t know. Anyway, Glaber’s army consisted of approximately3,000 militia, not proper Roman legionaries. Again, the fact that the Senate sent an unprovenmilitary commander leading untrained militia revealed how little they were concerned withthis uprising. Glaber and his units chased the gladiatorsto their camp on Mount Vesuvius and laid siege on the only road down the mountain. His plan was to simply wait for the insurgentsto starve to death. It seemed like a fine strategy, albeit a tadunoriginal. Spartacus did not have this problem. In fact, his side deployed a much more novelgame plan. He knew that Glaber was only paying attentionto the side with the descent because all the others consisted of steep cliffs which were,seemingly, impassable. However, he and his men made rope laddersout of wild vines that were plentiful in the area and rappelled down undetected by theRomans.
They then surrounded Glaber’s camp and easilydefeated his forces in a surprise attack. In the end, all this expedition managed todo was to supply the rebels with better weapons and armor and to help bolster their numbersas more people heard of their exploits. The Second ExpeditionOn the second attempt, Rome sent another praetor named either Publius Varinius or Publius Valerius. There are no juicy details to share regardingthese fights. Just the fact that Spartacus and his men triumphedagain. First they defeated one of the praetor’slieutenants named Furius who had two thousand soldiers with him. Then, another praetor called Cossinius whohad been sent out with another large force to offer support to Varinius. He was almost taken prisoner by the insurgentsas the gladiators caught his camp off-guard while the praetor was bathing. Lastly, the rebels defeated Varinius and,as a symbol of his victory, Spartacus took the praetor’s horse. Now, the gladiator army was free to raid thecountryside of Italy unopposed as more and more men from the region swelled their ranks. According to Appian, Spartacus’s army boastedover 70,000 soldiers. Presumably, Oenomaus died around this time,possibly in battle, as he is no longer mentioned by historians. Spartacus and Crixus are referred to as thecommanders of the rebel army. At this point, the insurgents reached a possiblecrossroads in their journey, one which still divides both classical and modern scholars. According to Plutarch, Spartacus wanted totraverse the Alps and escape Roman territory. In his view, the Thracian planned to disbandthe army once it had secured freedom. However, Spartacus could not convince hismen who were feeling cocky enough that they wanted to continue raiding. Other sources claimed that the plan was (andhad always been) to march on Rome.
The notion that there was some dissensionin the ranks regarding their next move was strengthened by the fact that, at one point,the rebels split into two armies - one was led by Spartacus, the other by Crixus. Whether this division was strategic so theycould cover more ground or it was caused by disagreements, we cannot say with any certainty. The Death of CrixusBy this point, the Senate realized that the littleuprising caused by the escaped slaves was no laughing matter and it was only growingin power. Some have argued that the Roman leaders werereticent to unleash the true might of Rome because it would have been an admittance ofdefeat, in of itself. Just the idea that a few enslaved Thracians,Germans, and Gauls could threaten the Roman Republic was an embarrassment. But after a year of the rebels running wild,the Senate had had enough. In 72 BC, it tasked two consuls, Gellius andLentulus, to put an end to the uprising, and each one commanded a Roman legion. The exact size of a legion actually variedthroughout the history of Rome. According to Livy, during the Republic, theSenate set the size at the start of the year based on availability and circumstances. Although typically a legion contained around4,000 infantry and a few hundred cavalry, it would vary anywhere between 3,000 and 6,000soldiers. Regardless of how many men the legions had,they were still vastly outnumbered by the insurgent forces. However, what they lacked in manpower, theymore than made up for with strict military training and top-of-the-line equipment. Spartacus’s forces, on the other hand, consistedmostly of peasants, deserters, slaves, and shepherds. Very few of them stood a chance against aRoman soldier in combat. Image suggestion: Roman tortoise formationHere we arrive at a bit of a contentious moment because the two main sources, Plutarch andAppian, give differing accounts on the battles between Spartacus and the consular armies.
They do not necessarily contradict each other,but they each mention events that the other ignores. As I said previously, the rebel forces splitinto two armies. Both historians agree that Gellius and hislegion fought Crixus who commanded around 30,000 men near Mount Garganus. This encounter resulted in a decisive victoryfor the Romans. The rebel army lost around two thirds of itstroops, including Crixus who was killed in battle. When hearing of this, Spartacus allegedlysacrificed 300 Roman soldiers in his honor. Fighting the Consular ArmiesBoth sources also agree that Spartacus and the main insurgent force faced the army ofLentulus while heading for Cisalpine Gaul and triumphed. Afterwards, however, they start to differ. We have to remember that even the best sourceswe have for the War of Spartacus wrote their accounts over 150 years after the uprisinghad taken place. Many details could have been altered or forgotten. According to Appian, Gellius and his men headedtowards Spartacus after defeating Crixus. His hope was that he would reach the Spartacanarmy in time and trap it between the two legions commanded by him and Lentulus. He was too late, though, and the Thracianhad time to best the other consul, turn his soldiers around and defeat Gellius in combat,also.
The two consular legions retreated and regroupedback in Rome. They then united as a single army and madea third attempt against Spartacus at Picenum. They were defeated, once again. Plutarch makes no mention of Spartacus’sfight against Gellius or the Battle at Picenum against both consuls. Instead, he says that, after the Thracianbested Lentulus, he engaged in combat with an army of 10,000 men led by Gaius CassiusLonginus, the governor of Cisalpine Gaul. Once again, he was victorious. There is also some confusion regarding whathappened after Spartacus defeated the consular armies. While Plutarch offers no concrete information,Appian, more or less, places Spartacus on the warpath to Rome. Maybe it was the death of Crixus, or maybehe thought himself invincible in battle, but Spartacus seemed determined to pillage mightyRome itself. He killed all his prisoners and his pack animalsand set fire to any useless materials that might have burdened and slowed him down. He marched on the capital with an army of120,000 footmen. Despite his gung-ho attitude, Spartacus hada change of heart on the way and realized that, perhaps, his army was not strong enoughjust yet. Instead, he took over the city of Thurii andthe surrounding mountains and conducted raids for bronze and iron to forge weapons and equiphis troops. Marcus Licinius CrassusThe Senate dropped any pretense that the Spartacan rebellion was anything else than a major threatthat endangered the Republic itself.
It gave the task of putting down the uprisingonce and for all to Marcus Licinius Crassus. Image suggestion: Bust of CrassusCrassus is primarily remembered today for, allegedly, being the richest man in Romanhistory. The true extent of his wealth is impossibleto gauge with accuracy, but it could have been up to $20 billion in modern currency. The number most commonly used is 200 millionsestertii, an estimation provided by Pliny. Plutarch used gold talents to quantify Crassus’swealth and placed it at over 7,100 talents which would mean, in modern terms, 213 metrictons of gold. Crassus’s fortune came from “fire andwar, making the public calamities his greatest source of revenue”, as Plutarch put it. Some of his lucrative businesses includeda fire department that arrived at a burning home and only extinguished the flames if itnegotiated a generous bargain with the owner. Otherwise, the men simply looked on as thehome burned to the ground. Afterwards, Crassus even offered to buy theproperty (at a significantly-reduced price, of course). Another one of his schemes was a school forslaves. By taking cheap, unskilled labor and givingthem training, he increased their value significantly and then sold them on for a tidy profit. The bulk of Crassus’s wealth, however, camefrom real estate.
He was an ally of Sulla, the Roman generalwho prompted a Civil War that involved the aforementioned Quintus Sertorius. After his triumph, Sulla enacted proscriptions,meaning that all of his powerful enemies were either put to death or banished and theirpossessions confiscated and put up at auction. This allowed Crassus to purchase massive amountsof land and property for next to nothing. Going back to the war, Crassus was not onlyrich, but also had high political aspirations. He knew that putting down this rebellion wouldsecure his position in the Senate. He used his own money to equip and train newtroops. He was made a praetor and was granted commandof six new legions, plus what was left of the two consular armies. The DecimationAt first, it looked like this military expedition would end like all the others. While Crassus and the bulk of his army waitedfor Spartacus on the borders of Picenum, he sent his legate, Mummius, with two legionsto circle around and approach the rebellion army from behind. Crassus gave explicit orders not to attackthe insurgents or even to engage in skirmishes. Mummius disobeyed, feeling like he had anadvantageous position. He attacked and he lost. Clearly, Crassus needed to teach some discipline,something he accomplished with an extreme measure. He revived a punishment that had not beenused for almost 200 years - decimation.
The soldiers were divided into decades - adecade, here, simply meaning a group of ten. They drew lots and the losing soldier fromevery decade was executed. Again, there is a bit of disagreement overwho Crassus decimated, exactly. Plutarch said it was only one cohort of 500or so soldiers. Appian, however, believed it was either thetwo consular legions or his entire army after a defeat. This is a pretty big detail because it makesthe difference between the execution of 50 soldiers, more or less, and the executionof thousands. Either way, the tactic seemed to work, andCrassus showed his men that he was “more dangerous...than the enemy”. Victories for Both SidesCrassus’s methods might have been harsh, but they yielded results. The following times that the armies met inbattle, the Romans were victorious. Spartacus was forced to retreat to a regionin southern Italy called Lucania. Plutarch reports that the Thracian plannedto take over the island of Sicily and regroup there. For this, he negotiated passage with a groupof Cilician pirates. However, with pirates being pirates, theydouble-crossed him and sailed away after being paid. Spartacus had his back against the wall sohe fell back to the peninsula of Rhegium. Crassus felt that he had victory in his grasp,but he was wise enough not to underestimate the Thracian as many had done before him. Instead of forcing a battle, he built fortificationsacross the isthmus to the peninsula so that the rebels would be cut off from any provisions.
Indeed, this tactic split the rebellious fightersinto two groups. One of them broke through the siege and startedtheir own raiding campaign. Crassus fell upon them swiftly and destroyedthem in battle, but he was disheartened to see that their fighting spirit had not beenextinguished. Although he killed over 12,000 insurgents,upon inspection, only two of them had wounds in their backs. All the others had died facing their enemy,fighting until their last breath. Meanwhile, Crassus sent another army led byone of his officers, Quintus, to pursue the Spartacan forces which fled to the mountains. The gladiator turned his troops around andmet the Romans in battle and was triumphant. Bolstered by this recent victory, the rebelswanted to take on the main army of Crassus. The Arrival of PompeyOne final, decisive battle suited Crassus just fine. Although at first he seemed content with weakeningthe insurgents as much as possible, now he was fighting against the clock as he receivednews that Roman reinforcements were on the way.
Pompey the Great had managed to put down theSertorian rebellion in the Iberian Peninsula and had redirected his forces to take on Spartacus. Another commander named Lucullus was alsocoming with additional soldiers. You would think that the arrival of reinforcementswould be good news for Crassus, but he had no intention of sharing credit with anyonefor putting down the largest rebellion in Roman history. Before making his last stand, Spartacus actuallytried to call a truce with Crassus, but the Roman praetor rejected it categorically. To fulfill his ambitions, nothing but theabsolute obliteration of the revolt would have sufficed. The armies met at the Battle of the SilariusRiver. The Spartacan troops fought hard, but weresoundly defeated. Around 36,000 of them died in battle. Around 6,000 more were taken prisoner by Crassusand were all crucified along the Appian Way. About 5,000 rebels managed to flee the battle,but they were met by Pompey who cut them to pieces. Image suggestion: Appian WayTriumph Pompey told Rome that, even though Crassuswon the battle, he “extirpated the war”. Accordingly, for this and his victory in Hispania,he was given a major triumph upon his return and made consul. In this case, a triumph is a Roman ritualwhich celebrates a general’s successes in battle. Crassus was later made a censor with Pompey’ssupport. He also won over the masses of Rome by usinghis money to throw a giant feast in honor of Hercules and paying for everyone’s grainallowance for three months.
The two of them later formed an informal alliancecalled the First Triumvirate alongside another Roman up-and-comer named Julius Caesar. The Fate of SpartacusIt would have been nice if we could have ended with one final anecdote about Spartacus sincethis bio is about him, after all. Unfortunately, history is seldom that accommodating. He died in battle - killed at an unknown timeby an unknown soldier - and his body was never recovered. Even though he had no possible way of knowingthis, Plutarch thought to provide a more fitting end for the Thracian who tried to bring Rometo its knees. He claimed that, during battle, Spartacuscut his way through the enemy ranks and tried to reach Crassus himself, but was stoppedwhen two dead centurions fell upon him. He was then completely surrounded and cutdown while fighting to the bitter end.
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