Roman Slave: Spartacus - Essay Example

August 09, Spartacus Spartacus is a Roman slave who has been able to bring together thousands of slavesagainst the mighty Roman Empire. He single handedly organized the suppressed community with an intention to overcome their state and attain freedom from bondage. Ancient sources portray Spartacus as a criminal or outcast, who has led a mutiny against Rome. This image of Spartacus has remained unchanged through-out the Middle Ages. However, during the latter half of eighteenth century, his actions come to be recognized in a different perspective and some authors projected him as a noble hero, who fought for the freedom of the bonded slaves from the Roman Empire. Thus he has emerged as one of the best characters in the ancient history and is recognized as a great general, a noble person, and a genuine representative of the ancient working class. Spartacus, in the early stages a notorious deserter from the Roman Army, and at later stages a famed gladiator, becomes the leader of the slaves and organizes an uprising against the Roman republic. This upheaval is referred to as The War of Spartacus or the Gladiator War. This slave uprising threatened the Roman Empire and the very name of Spartacus ignited terror in the Romans. His name translates as “Famous for His Spear” (The Spartacus War 2) and it is believed that he is blessed by Dionysus, the God of liberation and freedom Spartacus convinced his followers to rise up against their owners to fight for their freedom. Thracians are considered as the masters of horse, which helped them in being fast and mobile. Spartacus also is a man of horse and had a little talent for cavalry. He receives schooling in warfare which helps him to be a great warrior. He is a soldier who worked for the well being of the slaves and they consider him as a hero. He is an adventurous hero who kills his enemy commander with his own hand. He also has popularity as a great orator who can organize his followers to fight against the injustice done to them. A man of simple tastes, he likes to share his wealth with those who do not have it. “Like Brutus” (Strauss p. 6), he fights for the freedom of the slaves in Rome. He is an ambitious man and a man of destiny who claims to have a close relationship with the God. Nothing is mentioned about the actual intention of Spartacus. No premise is found to come to the conclusion that he has sought to abolish slavery. But he has intended to free the gladiators, farmers and shepherds who are considered as the slaves. He avoids urban slaves and has completely concentrated on the freedom of rural slaves. He also wants them to fight for their nationality, religion and take revenge against their enemy masters. The ancient sources mention him as a man of passion who is in the thirst for freedom and is burning for revenge. There exists hardly any testimony that chronicles the birth of Spartacus. A rough estimate by historians indicates that he is born in 109 BC but not as a slave in bondage. It is estimated by “He was a freeborn provincial from Thrace” (McManus). The story of Spartacus can be considered both as a love story as well as crusade against Romans for freedom. Spartacus is believed to have had a wife or mistress to whom he was very devoted. His yearning for freedom also stems from his deep desire to be with her and protect her. Besides, he has embraced a “divine mission” (Strauss 6) of liberating his fellow being from the shackles of slavery and giving them a life of freedom and peace. The most pathetic fact is that they are forced to fight with and kill one another under duress, to entertain their masters and the Roman Empire’s subjects. Spartacus understood this as a futile human existence and instigated other slaves to rise in rebellion so they can have an honorable life. Though the slave rebellion began early in 146 BC, it became stronger under the leadership of Spartacus, who excelled as a great hero. A local of Thrace, he serves as an assistant in the Roman army. He is outlawed from the army because he deserts it and thus he was imprisoned and sold into slavery. Lentulus Batiatus buys him and trains him as a slave gladiator. Romans make him work in the salt mines in the province of Libya. In 73 BC he escapes from Batiatus with many other gladiators. During their plight many slaves from other parts of the region joined them and they jointly defeat many legions of Rome. Spartacus helps his men to cross the river Alps and to escape from Italy. By 72 BC Spartacus manages to increase the number of his supporters to about 70,000 slaves, who belong to the rural areas. Between 73 and 71 BC many of the areas of the Italian peninsula south of Rome begin the third great slave war against the Roman masters under the leadership of Spartacus. Initially, the Romans do not take the revolt seriously, but when the rebellion assumes greater proportions, the Roman Senate began to assign high level military commands to suppress the upheaval. They appointed two consuls to fight against the rebels. The slave groups among the Gauls and the Germans separated from Spartacus but they are soon defeated by the two consuls appointed by the Roman Senate. Spartacus defeats the two consuls and kills both. Since the river Alps is now open to them, they can easily escape from Italy. But the Gauls and the Germans with Spartacus refuse to follow him. Hence Spartacus returns to southern Italy, thinking of taking a ship to Sicily. As he moves to south, more people join and by the time he reaches south, the number of slaves with him rose to 120,000. The Roman Senate appoints Marcus Licinius Crassus as a new consul to suppress the slave rebellion. Crassus starts his work and attacks Spartacus against the orders of the senate, but is defeated. Next time, Crassus uses his combined forces in order to defeat Spartacus. Meanwhile, the warrior with his followers tries to cross the straits and escapes to Sicily. But unfortunately the Cilician pirates betray him. The senate also calls Pompey and his army from Spain. Marcus Licinius Lucullus also lands from Macedonia with his army for the attack. Later in 71 BC, the rebellion is crushed and the hero Spartacus gets killed brutally. He is killed in a fight at the river Silarus which entails the death of about ten thousand men. During the battle, Spartacus is surrounded by his enemies and gets killed. One can see that he has remained a great warrior and organizer because even after his death many of the slaves grouped together and fought for their freedom. Greek epics as well as their tradition have offered the world heroes and heroines who have set examples for others to follow. Some of them have become legends, some celebrated life, but a few have perished without being acclaimed as leaders. The story of Spartacus is a saga of pains and sufferings a human being has endured, just to survive in this world, into which God Almighty has chosen to send him. With all the heroic traits he has been so lavishly endowed, it has been the destiny of Spartacus to remain under bondage, to sustain life as a slave. Further, his whole life and survival has depended on his ability to win, to kill, to endure pain. Every blow he strikes, every kill he achieves, brings cascades of applauses from the audience and praises from his master. But, on the flipside, every time he wins a bout remains the regret that he has killed a human for his survival. Thus, amidst the celebrations of victory and the glory of recognition, within his mind Spartacus suffers an excruciating pain in his knowledge that it is at the expense of his opponent, his rival, that he sustains his breath. Historians still keep guessing about the spirit that has driven Spartacus to lead a rebellion against the Romans and argue that it is not exactly aimed at the emancipation of slaves. However, nobody seems to acknowledge the fact that his fight orients on the concept of the meaninglessness of killing a human being for the sake of entertaining masses, pleasing a master and to survive. A gladiator’s survival depends on his ability to kill and the greatness of Spartacus lies in the fact that despite being a mighty warrior, with ample potential to liquidate any rival, he recognizes the futility of killing for survival and thus seeks freedom. Work Cited The Spartacus War. News from Simon & Schuster. Web. 09 August 2011. McManus, Barbara. Spartacus - Historical Background. History in Film. Web. 09 August 2011. Strauss, Barry S. The Spartacus war. Simon & Schuster. 2009. New York. Strauss, Barry S. The Spartacus war. Simon and Schuster. 2009. Print Read More