Spartacus

[Hannibal]

Hello, I will be participating in the upcoming National History Day (NHD) competition in March. The theme for the competition this year is: "Taking a stand in history." I am going to be performing a monologue portraying the characteristics of Spartacus. I am going to assume the role that Spartacus played in history pretending that the crowd and judges watching are my fellow gladiators and brothers-in-arms, so to speak. The project requires me to write annotated bibliographies based on primary sources from the times in which the event occurred. However, I am finding it difficult to find a lot of primary sources from the age of Spartacus. If anyone has any suggestions as to what I should say in the monologue, any references to primary sources, or any information reguarding the details of the life of Spartacus and the campaign that he led, please share them. Thank you for your time. I hope to hear from you soon!

 

Have Faith,

Hannibal

[Primus Pilus]

The two main sources...

 

Plutarch Life of Crassus

 

Appian the Civil Wars book 1 (begins with part XIV near the end)

 

Its a shame that Cassius Dio's account of that time period is very fragmentary as he was famous for adding speeches into his accounts to bring his characters to life. Unfortunately the existing texts don't go into any detail. Still you might want to read some of his work to get familiar with the style of ancient 'speech writing'.

 

Cassius Dio the Roman History

[Hannibal]

Thank you soooooo much. I can't tell you how much of a help this is.

 

Have Faith,

Hannibal

[Valerius]

Here's a few things to think about. Spartacus wasn't the man's real name-it was stage name used when he appeared in the arena. He probably wasn't from Thrace - "Thracian" referred to his mode of fighting and the type of armour he wore in the arena. He wasn't born a slave but served in the legions where he was condemmned to the arena for some unknown crime. He wasn't crucified for his crime because he was a Roman citizen and such punishment was forbidden for a citizen. All in all, it is quite likely that Spartacus was a Roman himself and it is clear that he had a great deal of experience in terms of Roman tactics. Quite likely he was a centurion or perhaps of even higher rank. At the time the Roman themselves speculated as to who he actually was. Their failure to recover his body is very suspicious since there were many left after the final battle who could have identified him and the Romans themselves thought that he may have slipped away before the end of the battle. Looked at closely and with less Hollywood hype, Spartacus emerges as a somewhat murky figure whose motives, actual identity and ultimate fate are far from clear.

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

Here's a few things to think about. Spartacus wasn't the man's real name-it was stage name used when he appeared in the arena. He probably wasn't from Thrace - "Thracian" referred to his mode of fighting and the type of armour he wore in the arena. He wasn't born a slave but served in the legions where he was condemmned to the arena for some unknown crime. He wasn't crucified for his crime because he was a Roman citizen and such punishment was forbidden for a citizen. All in all, it is quite likely that Spartacus was a Roman himself and it is clear that he had a great deal of experience in terms of Roman tactics. Quite likely he was a centurion or perhaps of even higher rank. At the time the Roman themselves speculated as to who he actually was. Their failure to recover his body is very suspicious since there were many left after the final battle who could have identified him and the Romans themselves thought that he may have slipped away before the end of the battle. Looked at closely and with less Hollywood hype, Spartacus emerges as a somewhat murky figure whose motives, actual identity and ultimate fate are far from clear.

 

Oh, I always thought he was a slave but not Thracian. Can you give me the sources for the view Spartacus was Roman citizen, I'm quite interested now.

Edited December 28, 2005 by FLavius Valerius Constantinus

[Primus Pilus]

Here's a few things to think about. Spartacus wasn't the man's real name-it was stage name used when he appeared in the arena. He probably wasn't from Thrace - "Thracian" referred to his mode of fighting and the type of armour he wore in the arena. He wasn't born a slave but served in the legions where he was condemmned to the arena for some unknown crime. He wasn't crucified for his crime because he was a Roman citizen and such punishment was forbidden for a citizen. All in all, it is quite likely that Spartacus was a Roman himself and it is clear that he had a great deal of experience in terms of Roman tactics. Quite likely he was a centurion or perhaps of even higher rank. At the time the Roman themselves speculated as to who he actually was. Their failure to recover his body is very suspicious since there were many left after the final battle who could have identified him and the Romans themselves thought that he may have slipped away before the end of the battle. Looked at closely and with less Hollywood hype, Spartacus emerges as a somewhat murky figure whose motives, actual identity and ultimate fate are far from clear.

 

Oh, I always thought he was a slave but not Thracian. Can you give me the sources for the view Spartacus was Roman citizen, I'm quite interested now.

 

Umm, read the accounts above. Appian suggests he was a legionary, Plutarch does not. Both say he was Thracian though Plutarch also suggests a more Hellenized disposition.

[Skarr]

I'm inclined to believe that Spartacus was a Roman soldier, perhaps an optio or maybe even a centurion as he understood Roman battle tactics really well and was a fine general, defeating the Romans in several battles. However, whether he was a Thracian or a Roman is a moot point. As someone suggested, his adoption of the Thracian style of fighting in the arena may have led people to believe he was a Thracian.

 

I think that his hatred of Rome and Romans stemmed from the fact that he was probably not Roman but a foreigner who had been recruited into the army and perhaps enslaved / sold for insubordination or some other kind of offence. Maybe he was a skilled fighter and much respected in the legion and rather than put him to death for an offence, the commanding officer may have decided to profit from his skills by selling him to a gladiatorial school in Capua. In any case, I think there is no doubt that the rebellion of the slaves began at one of the schools in Capua run by one Lentulus Batiatus and seizing weapons, these slaves overpowered their guards and escaped to Vesuvius. Spartacus may have been the one who incited them to rebel and perhaps coordinated the attack against the guards, establishing a clear superiority / leadership over the others from the very start.

[Hannibal]

I have a source here that is secondary, but it is written based off the works of Appian and Plutarch. I states that Spartacus served with the Roman army prior to beings sold into slavery because of a crime he committed. Could desertion be a crime severe enough to sell a man to a gladiatorial life?

 

He wasn't crucified for his crime because he was a Roman citizen and such punishment was forbidden for a citizen.

 

I thought he was crucified, of course, that is based off of secondary sources. Are there any primary sources proving that he was not crucified?

 

I find it very intriguing that Spartacus was only his stage name. However, if Spartacus was his stage name, then what was his real name?

 

Thanks!

 

Have Faith,

Hannibal