From enslavement to rebel gladiator: The life of Spartacus - Fiona Radford

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As the warrior slept, a snake coiled around his face. Instead of a threat, his wife saw an omen, a fearsome power that would lead her husband to either glory or doom. For now, however, he was only a slave, one of millions taken from the territories conquered by Rome to work the mines, till the fields, or fight for the crowd's entertainment. A nomadic Thracian from what is now Bulgaria, he had served in the Roman army but was imprisoned for desertion. His name was Spartacus. Spartacus had been brought to Capua by Batiadus, a lanista, or trainer of gladiators. And life at the ludus, or gladiator school, was unforgiving. New recruits were forced to swear an oath to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword, and to obey their master's will without question. But even harsh discipline couldn't break Spartacus' spirit. In 73 BCE, Spartacus led 73 other slaves to seize knives and skewers from the kitchen and fight their way out, hijacking a wagon of gladiator equipment along the way. They were done fighting for others. Now they fought for their freedom. When the news reached Rome, the Senate was too busy with wars in Spain and the Pontic Empire to worry about some unruly slaves. Unconcerned, praetor Claudius Glaber took an army of 3,000 men to the rebels' refuge at Mount Vesuvius and blocked off the only passage up the mountain. All that remained was to wait and starve them out, or so he thought. In the dead of night, the rebels lowered themselves down the cliffside on ropes made from vines and flanked Glaber's unguarded camp. Thus began the legend of Rome's defiant gladiator, As news of the rebellion spread, its ranks swelled with escaped slaves, deserting soldiers, and hungry peasants. Many were untrained, but Spartacus' clever tactics transformed them into an effective guerrilla force. A second Roman expedition led by Praetor Varinius was ambushed while the officer bathed. To elude the remaining Roman forces, the rebels used their enemies' corpses as decoy guards, stealing Varinius' own horse to aid their escape. Thanks to his inspiring victories and policy of distributing spoils equally, Spartacus continued attracting followers and gained control of villages where new weapons could be forged. The Romans soon realized they were no longer facing ragtag fugitives, and in the spring of 72 BCE, the Senate retaliated with the full force of two legions. The rebels left victorious, but many lives were lost in the battle, including Spartacus' lieutenant, Crixus. To honor him, Spartacus held funeral games, forcing his Roman prisoners