Spartacus was the leader of a rebel slave army that wreaked havoc on Italy in 73-71 BCE.
Ultimately, Spartacus was defeated by the Roman general Crassus.
Enslaved by the Roman Republic, Spartacus, was a Thracian mercenary, who became a gladiator in Capua.
About, 73 BC, Spartacus escaped with about 70-80 slave gladiators from the gladiator school to the side of Mount Vesuvius.
Clodius Glaber, a military commander, was sent from Rome, along with 3,000 soldiers, and according to Plutach, “slaves were able to surround them and to shock the Romans with a surprise attack. When the Romans fled, the slaves seized their camp.”
The slaves then split in two groups commanded by Spartacus and Crixus.
Rome in alarm, sent two consular legions, who defeated 30,000 rebel slaves commanded by Crixus. The Roman legions are then defeated by Spartacus and his slave army.
Crassus, the richest man in Rome, is appointed to command eight legions --more than 40,000 soldiers against the slaves. However, first, one-tenth of the soldiers are killed as a form of punishment (decimation).
Spartacus and his slave army move to southern Italy, where they have more successes against Crassus.
Plans by Spartacus, to transport his slave army to Sicily, fail, when Cilician pirates betray him.
Spartacus tries to make a truce with Crassus, who attempts to entrap the slave army. The slave army break through the Roman fortifications and escape.
The Battle at the River Silarus is believed to be the final battle, bringing the death of Spartacus, though his body is never found.
Crassus takes his revenge on the slave army, ordering 6,000 slaves be crucified along the Appian Way. Their bodies are left to rot from Rome to Capua, a distance of more than 100 miles.
Spartacus' death by Hermann Vogel