The Spartacus WarAn authoritative account from an expert author: The Spartacus War is the first popular history of the revolt in English. The Spartacus War is the extraordinary story of the most famous slave rebellion in the ancient world, the fascinating true story behind a legend that has been the inspiration for novelists, filmmakers, and revolutionaries for 2,000 years. Starting with only seventy-four men, a gladiator named Spartacus incited a rebellion that threatened Rome itself. With his fellow gladiators, Spartacus built an army of 60,000 soldiers and controlled the southern Italian countryside. A charismatic leader, he used religion to win support. An ex-soldier in the Roman army, Spartacus excelled in combat. He defeated nine Roman armies and kept Rome at bay for two years before he was defeated. After his final battle, 6,000 of his followers were captured and crucified along Rome's main southern highway. The Spartacus War is the dramatic and factual account of one of history's great rebellions. Spartacus was beaten by a Roman general, Crassus, who had learned how to defeat an insurgency. But the rebels were partly to blame for their failure. Their army was large and often undisciplined; the many ethnic groups within it frequently quarreled over leadership. No single leader, not even Spartacus, could keep them all in line. And when faced with a choice between escaping to freedom and looting, the rebels chose wealth over liberty, risking an eventual confrontation with Rome's most powerful forces. The result of years of research, The Spartacus War is based not only on written documents but also on archaeological evidence, historical reconstruction, and the author's extensive travels in the Italian countryside that Spartacus once conquered. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - Skybalon - LibraryThingTake a history professor who really both has a ton of integrity and really knows his stuff and you end up with a somewhat frustrating book. Here's the problem: There is so little actual verified ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - bakabaka84 - LibraryThingInteresting read, a lot of it is speculation due to the lack of the primary sources that have come down to use about the war as well as differing accounts from the one we do have. So motives of ... Read full review
Contents
| 13 | |
The Thracian Lady | 29 |
The Praetors | 51 |
The Pathfinders | 71 |
The Stoic | 91 |
The Decimator | 115 |
The Pirate | 131 |
The Fisherman | 143 |
The Celtic Women | 159 |
Spartacus | 171 |
The Victors | 189 |
Conclusion | 201 |
Glossary of Key Names | 213 |
Acknowledgments | 247 |
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Common terms and phrases
ancient Appian arms army attack battle better Caesar called camp Capua carried cavalry Celtic Celts century Cicero Civil Wars commander consuls Crassus Crassus’s Crixus cross death defeat Dionysus doubt enemy example faced fight finally followed force fought Germans gladiators Greek head hills Histories honor hundred imagine important insurgents Italian Italy joined killed knew known land later legions lived Lucania marched Marcus miles military mountains move murmillo offered once perhaps pirates plain Plutarch political Pompey Press prisoners probably reason rebellion rebels revolt rich road Roman Rome Rome’s Sallust says Senate served Sicily slaves soldiers sources southern Spartacus Spartacus’s standard strait Studies success supporters surely taken thousand Thrace Thracian took town troops turned University Verres Vesuvius victory walls wanted weapons women writer
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Spartacus War |
| Author | Barry Strauss |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Simon and Schuster, 2009 |
| ISBN | 1439158398, 9781439158395 |
| Length | 288 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Ancient / Greece History / Ancient / Rome History / Military / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |