Transcript Spartacus Presentation

Spartacus
• led
slave revolt from
73 BC – 71 BC
Spartacus: The Man


Born a free man from the province of Thrace
(probably modern Greece or Southern Bulgaria)
Auxiliary in the Roman army at Macedonia


Deserted the army, was outlawed, captured, and sold
into slavery
Plutarch considers him “a man not only of high
spirit and valiant, but in understanding, also, and
in gentleness superior to his condition, and more
of a Grecian than the people of his country
usually are.”

Isn’t it obvious that’s from the original Greek?
today --------
1st century BC
Spartacus’ New Profession
Spartacus was sold into the slavery of
Lentulus Batiatus (Latin names…) who
lived in the city of Capua (south of Rome)
 Batiatus operated a school which he
forced his new slave Spartacus to enter…
a school for GLADIATORS!


Lentulus was known to be very harsh with his
gladiators and as a result 200 of the
gladiators planned an escape
THE ESCAPE
The Escape

OH NO! Batiatus heard of the gladiators’
plan!


Of the 200 that planned the escape, only
around 70 made it
The men used knives stolen from the
cook to break out into the city of Capua

Gonna be hard to fight off the armed guards
of the city with a bunch of knives isn’t it?
WHAT LUCK! Spartacus and his men found a
group of wagons carrying gladiator weapons,
such as:
SPEAR
CLUB
TRIDENT…
Like in the
Little Mermaid
Yes, a net is really
considered a
gladiator’s weapon
First Fight

WHAT BAD LUCK!
Spartacus and the other gladiators run into
the armed guards of Capua as they are
exiting the city…
 Spartacus and the other gladiators kill the
guards, and take their weapons and armor…

OLD
NEW
Clodius: Spartacus’ First Test
Army of 3,000 recruits hastily drafted from
the region of the rebellion
 Trapped Spartacus on Mount Vesuvius –
only 1 path to get up/down the mountain


Heavily guarded the path, waiting for
Spartacus to be forced to come back down
Spartacus Gets an ‘A’

Clodius, a praetor with imperium, thought
he had Spartacus trapped on the
mountain, but Spartacus thought up a plan

At the top of the mountain were many strong
vines
 Took
the vines and fashioned them into ladders
 Climbed down the mountain

Spartacus’ army sneaked behind Clodius’
army (because it was constantly faced toward
the path) and decimated it
Take Two
Spartacus’ army was constantly growing,
taking in any slave that wanted to join
 Publius Verinus, the local praetor, was
sent with an army of 3,000 men and easily
defeated
 Cossinius was sent with even more forces,
and he was nearly captured, then killed in
battle, and his army was defeated

A picture of a battle in Roman times (let’s face it, too much text drives you nuts…)
Greed and Pride, A Bad Combo
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Spartacus and his army made it all the way to
the Alps
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Spartacus had planned for his army to disperse here,
since each of the former slaves could now travel to
his homeland
The army directly disobeyed Spartacus, full of
pride from its victories and greed for more
pillaged goods

The army had also grown to over 75,000 people
since the revolt had begun… it started as 70!
Seats 70
Seats 70,000
Any Comparison?!
Don’t Mess with Rome

The Roman Senate has had enough, and
sends both consuls to destroy the revolt
Each consul is given two legions (circa 5
thousand men per legion)
 Gellius Publicola, one of the consuls, destroys
the Gauls and Germans, the main group that
wanted to stay in Italy, after they split away
from Spartacus
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Consul vs. Spartacus x2
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Each consul decides to attack Spartacus
individually (more glory)
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Lentulus attempts to attack Spartacus first; his army is
destroyed
Publicola catches up afterwords and attacks
Spartacus, and his army is destroyed
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Because Publicola killed Spartacus’ former allies, Spartacus
makes 300 of his surrendered troops split into pairs and fight
(1v1) to the death
Cassius, praetor of the nearby area in Gaul, is sent
with 10,000 reinforcements, and even he cannot
defeat Spartacus’ army
Now Yah Dun It…
The Senate realizes that this revolt has gained
real power, and decides to grant imperium (hey,
you need SOME Latin) to Marcus Licinius
Crassus
Crassus

Crassus is, at this point, the RICHEST man in
all of Rome
A noble from an old patrician family
 Received little confidence from the
conservative Senators, but much more from
the people
 His Army: 6 new legions, plus the four legions
that had been given to the consuls

Stupid, Stupid Mummies

Lieutenant Mummius, a commander under
Crassus, was given an army of 2 legions
to patrol the area for Spartacus
Was told under NO circumstances to attack
Spartacus
 Mummius gets beaten, and the 500 surviving
men are forced to give their armor and
weapons to Spartacus

 Crassus
is so angry that he splits the 500 returning
men into 50 groups of ten, and kills 1 man from
every group in front of the entire army (the true
meaning of “decimate”)
Crassus v. Spartacus

Crassus leads the remainder of his troops
against the army of Spartacus (120,000
strong)
Crassus has around 8 full legions, or nearly
40,000 men
 Crassus forces Spartacus to retreat

Never trust a Pirate

Spartacus retreats to Rhegium
Spartacus had made a deal with Cilician
pirates, who were going to take his army to
attack Sicily
 The pirates decline to acquiesce to his
request… although they aren’t from the
Caribbean
 Spartacus walls himself into the small
peninsula at Rhegium in preparation for an
attack by Crassus

Crassus Takes Charge
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Crassus first sends a message to the
Senate to recall Pompey


Pompey was currently attacking Spain, but
Crassus thought he may need Pompey’s
strength to crush the rebellion
Crassus then attacks the stronghold
Spartacus has created at Rhegium

Spartacus breaks part of Crassus’ line, and
thus part of his army is able to escape
It’s all about the ‘W’

Crassus realizes that he can destroy
Spartacus himself and get all the glory
before Pompey returns

Quickly follows Spartacus and attacks the
remnants of his army
 Quintius,
an officer under Crassus catches
Spartacus, and attempts to defeat him
 Spartacus destroys Quintius’ small army
Spartacus’ Downfall?
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Once again, Spartacus’ army is fueled by
victory
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After nearly being annihilated, escaping
Crassus, and then destroying Quintius, the
army decides that the best idea is to attack
Crassus’ army
Crassus is waiting…
Spartacus’ Final Battle
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Spartacus meets Crassus’ army, and realizes
that his only chance is to attack Crassus head on

Spartacus succeeds in killing two centurions guarding
Crassus, but is then surrounded by enemy troops, and
“cut into pieces” (hey, those are Plutarch’s words, not
mine)
Pompey Wins!! Wait, Pompey?!

Pompey returns from Spain to see that
Crassus has defeated Spartacus
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Realizing that there is still chance to seize the
glory from Crassus, Pompey kills the
remaining slaves that are trying to escape
The Senate votes Pompey a triumph for
his victories in Spain and at home

Crassus is voted an “ovation,” a far less
splendid honor
Finis
What?! The end? Let’s review for a minute. .
..
Review
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dates of rebellion?

decimate

leader of rebellion?

legion

stopped rebellion?

imperium

triumph

ovation
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original plan to
escape?
Terms to Know
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SPQR = Senatus
Populusque Romanus
cohort
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The Senate and the
Roman People
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480 soldiers (+ 5
centurions/leaders);
sometimes 600