In 73BC, he plotted an escape from his gladiatorial school near Capua in southern Italy. He was trained as a gladiator but due to his strength and combat skater. According to Plutarch, he was enslaved by them after he had deserted. Spartacus was a Thracian, and he had once fought with the Romans. Ī 19th-century illustration of the death of Spartacus This war involved thousands of escaped slaves who fought the Romans and devastated large areas of the Sicilian countryside. However, these measures failed to prevent two Servile Wars in Sicily in 135 BC and140 BC. The Romans ensured the obedience of their slaves with brutal and draconian measures. īecause of their large numbers, the Romans also used many of them as gladiators. There were significant populations of slaves in the South of Italy and Sicily. Large numbers of them worked on large landed estates as agricultural laborers. These wars led to an increase in the number of slaves in Rome and Italy. Rome often took slaves from the armies that they conquered. The number of slaves grew as Rome conquered various kingdoms in the Mediterranean. Their numbers had greatly expanded during the 2nd and 1st-century BCE. Many slaves were educated and worked as administrators or as teachers. The role of slaves varied in Roman society, and they worked as domestic servants, agricultural workers, miners, and even artisans. Their masters exploited slaves in every conceivable way, but many slaves were also released by their masters and became freedmen. The owners had immense power over their ‘property’ and controlled life and death over them. The institution of slavery had legal status in Roman law, and any slave was their owner's property. It seems that a significant proportion of the population were slaves. Slavery was widespread in the Roman world. This article will argue that Spartacus’ rebellion succeeded in changing the Romans' perception of slaves that led to improvements in the lives and status of slaves and a move away from slavery, especially in landed estates. It led to the rise of Crassus and the devastation of much of southern Italy. Howe, despite the military defeat of Spartacus, some believe that his revolt changed the Roman Empire. To many ancient historians, the rebellion of 73-71 BCE was a complete failure. The defeat of Spartacus and his followers was complete, but there is some argument over the legacy of the slave revolt. His uprising was crushed, and Pompey and Crassus's combined armies annihilated both him and his followers.
He was a gladiator and the last great slave revolt to shake the Roman Empire (73-71 BCE). His brilliance as a military tactician and strategist was recognized even by his enemies. One of the best-known figures in antiquity was Spartacus.