Spartacus' War: The Great Roman Gladiator Revolt, 73-71 BC
Of the great wars that the Roman Republic & its Legions fought, one of the most memorable and culturally importantly in the modern age is the revolt of Spartacus and his gladiators in 73-71 BC. Spartacus and his diverse rebel legion of slaves, prisoners-of-war, peasants, and former gladiators terrorized Southern Italy in a bloody revolt, eventually threatening the security and the pride of Rome itself. Known as the Gladiator War and also the T hird Servile War in relation to the two other preceding major slave revolts in Sicily 135-132 BC and in 104-110 BC, the war which Spartacus brought to the doorstep of Rome itself was significant because not only was it fought on the Roman mainland, it threatened the existence (in theory) of the Roman Empire. Indeed one of the most sacred institutions of Roman culture up to this point in history of Rome, the gladiator, threatened to destroy its own creator and benefactor in one armed slave revolt. A 19th centur...