 Spartacus
(died 71 BC), Roman slave and gladiator, born in Thrace. He is thought
to have been a deserter from the Roman army, and he was sold as a slave
to a trainer of gladiators at Capua. In 73 BC he escaped with other runaway
gladiators and took refuge on Mount Vesuvius, where he was joined by large
numbers of escaped slaves. As leader of the historic insurrection of Roman
slaves known as the Third Servile War, or Gladiators' War, he defeated
two Roman armies, and his forces overran southern Italy. In 72 BC he defeated
three more Roman armies and reached Cisalpine Gaul, where he planned to
disperse his followers to their homes. They decided to remain in Italy
for the sake of plunder, and Spartacus marched south again. In 71 BC the
Roman commander Marcus Licinius Crassus forced Spartacus and his followers
into the narrow peninsula of Rhegium (now Reggio di Calabria), from which,
however, they escaped through the Roman lines. Crassus then pursued Spartacus
to Lucania, where the rebel army was destroyed and Spartacus was killed
in battle. Upon his death the insurrection came to an end, and the captured
rebels were crucified. A few who escaped to the north were killed by Pompey
the Great, who was returning from Spain. Source:
Microsoft Encarta 97 |