Late Roman Republic, Pompeius Magnus (fl.82-48 BC): Third Servile War (Italy), Spartacus

It is estimated that the slaves in Italy now formed a third of the population, rising to more than half in many districts. As well as working in mines and quarries, on public construction projects, in the arena and brothels, and as servants in rich households, huge numbers were used to work on the land.

In spring 73 BC in Capua at the gladiator training school of ³⁹Cornelius Lentulus, seventy men led by the Thracian Spartacus and two Gallic slaves Crixus and Oenomaus seized kitchen tools (choppers, etc), fought their way free, seized several wagons of weapons and armour, and sought refuge on Mount Vesuvius, then dormant and believed to be extinct.

From a defensible position on the mountain, the rebels raided the large estates, freed slaves and took booty. Hearing of Spartacus’ successes, many more slaves rushed to join him. The Senate sent ²³Claudius Glaber and with a militia of about three thousand men he besieged the gladiators on Vesuvius. But Spartacus’ men made ropes from vines and trees growing nearby and used them to descend the mountain on the side opposite Glaber’s forces. Moving round the base of Vesuvius they surprised and annihilated Glaber’s men. This success persuaded even more slaves to join in the revolt.

A second expedition was sent under the praetor Publius Varinius. For some reason he split his forces under his two subordinates Furius (7) and Cossinius. These forces were also defeated and their equipment seized by the rebels.

The following spring Spartacus, with an army reputed to be some seventy thousand strong, ravaged Campania with attacks on Nuceria, Nola and Cumae. He continued northwards, apparently with the intention of crossing the Alps and then for his men to disperse to their respective homelands. The consuls Gellius Publicola and ⁴¹Cornelius Lentulus, each with two legions, were sent to stop him.

Publicola defeated a group of about thirty thousand slaves, under the command of Crixus, in Apulia near Mount Garganus, killing two-thirds of the rebels including Crixus. Publicola then followed the main group of slaves who were led by Spartacus and continuing towards Gallia Cisalpina.

Lentulus deployed his army to bar Spartacus’ path, hoping to trap the rebels between the two Roman armies. But Spartacus defeated both consuls: separately in the Apennines, and then with their armies combined, defeated them again in Picenum. In Gallia Cisalpina at Mutina, Spartacus defeated another legion under the Roman governor ⁰⁵Cassius Longinus.

Spartacus returned to the south, apparently any thought his men might have had of returning to their homes being replaced with a desire to plunder Italy. He wintered near Thurii in Cambria. Here, he arranged with the pirates to transport him and some two thousand of his men to Sicily, where he intended to rekindle the slave revolt and gain reinforcements.

The Senate appointed ¹³Licinius Crassus (cos.70 BC) to a special command against Spartacus. Conscription, hard drilling and brutal discipline – including decimatio (the execution of each tenth man of units routed in battle) – created a new army of ten legions (about fifty thousand men).

In 71 BC Crassus took up a position in Picenum and ordered his legate Mummius (2) to shadow but not engage Spartacus, but he disobeyed and was trounced. Spartacus retreated across Lucania to the sea. Instead of forcing a decisive battle, Crassus tried to trap Spartacus by closing off the toe of Italy by constructing an earthwork that stretched from sea to sea.

Spartacus eventually fell back into the mountains of Petelia in Bruttium. He was now threatened by three Roman armies – that of Crassus, that of Pompey returning from Spain, and that of ⁰⁴Terentius Varro Lucullus (cos.73 BC).

After a series of escalating clashes Spartacus finally met up with the Roman legions of Crassus on an open battlefield near the source Silarus (=Sele) River in northwest Lucania. Spartacus died fighting, but his body was never found. The remnants of his army were quickly hunted down. Crassus had six thousand prisoners crucified at regular intervals along the road from Rome to Capua; another five thousand, as they attempted to escape northward, were killed by Pompey who thus claimed credit for finishing the war.