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Different sources claim that Spartacus was either a captured Thracian soldier or a deserter who had served in the Roman Army. One of the most common theories is that Spartacus fought in the Roman Army as an auxiliary. The auxilary forces were made up entirely of men from captured lands who willingly fought for the Romans.
He took his ideas from Blossius of Cumae which can be summarized as: "the last will be the first (and vice versa)."
In 73 BC he broke out of a gladiator school, owned by Lentulus Batiatus at CapuaCapua (modern Santa Maria di Capua Vetere was the chief ancient city of Campania, and one of the most important towns of ancient Italy, situated 25 km (16 mi) north of Neapolis, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Capua's site, in a p with between 70 and 80 followers and fled to the calderaThis article is about volcanic calderas. Caldera Systems is also the former name of SCO Group. See also US Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera. A caldera is a volcanic crater which usually has a flat surface at the bottom, formed by a volcano collapsing i of Mount VesuviusMount Vesuvius (Monte Vesuvio) is a volcano east of Naples, Italy, located at 40°49′N 14°26′ E. It is the only active volcano on the European mainland, although it is not currently in eruption. It is one of four active volcanos in Italy, situa (near NaplesAlternate uses: See Naples (disambiguation Naples ( Italian Napoli Neapolitan Napule from Greek Neapolis/) is the largest town in southern Italy, capital of the region of Campania. The city has a population of about 1 million, and together with its suburb). There he raised a rebel army allegedly composed of 70,000 escaped slaves.
Spartacus's forces defeated two Roman legions sent to crush them. They spent the winterThis article is about the winter season. For other uses of the term, see winter (disambiguation). Winter is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. Astronomically, it begins with the winter solstice (around December 21 in the Northern hemisphere and J on the south coast manufacturing weapons. At this point, Spartacus's many followers were not all able-bodied males; some of them were women, children, and elderly men who tagged along. By springThe word spring has several meanings: spring (device), a common mechanical part. spring (season), a season of the year. spring (water), a natural source of water. Spring is a town in the USA: see Spring, Texas. Springs is a city in South Africa: see Sprin they marched towards the north and GaulGallia (in English Gaul is the Latin name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. In English the word Gaul commonly ref. They defeated two more legions on the way. At Mutina (modern-day ModenaModena is a town and a province on the south side of the Po valley, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. An ancient town, the seat of an archbishop, it is now mostly known as "the capital of engines", given that most famous Italian car factories like De Tomaso, Ferr) 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. There are theories that say that some of the non-fighting followers did, in fact, cross the Alps and go home. The rest marched back south and defeated two more legions under Marcus Licinius Crassus, who at that time was the wealthiest man in Rome. At the end of 72 BC Spartacus was camped in Rhegium ( Reggio Calabria) near the Straits of Messina.
Spartacus's deal with Cilician pirates to get them to Sicily fell through. In the beginning of 71 BC, eight legions of Marcus Licinius Crassus isolated Spartacus's army in Calabria. The Roman Senate also recalled Pompey from Iberia and Lucullus from northern Turkey.
Spartacus managed to break through Crassus's lines and escape towards Brundisium (modern-day Brindisi). Crassus's forces intercepted then in Lucania and Spartacus was killed in subsequent battle of the river Silarus. The last survivors fled north but were killed by Pompey, coming back from Roman Iberia.
Approximately six thousand of the captured slaves were crucified along the Via Appia from Capua to Rome. Crassus never gave orders for the bodies to be taken down, thus travelers were forced to see the bodies for years, perhaps decades, after the final battle.
Around five thousand slaves, however, escaped the capture. They were later destroyed by Pompey, which enabled him also to claim credit for ending this war.
Legionnaires found 3000 unharmed Roman prisoners from his camp. Spartacus's body was never identified.
Our original sources about the Spartacus' revolt are works of historians Plutarch, Appian, Florus, Orosius, and Sallust.