The "Spartacus" Threads

I just finished showing the movie "Spartacus" for the thirtieth time or so in my Western Civilization classes.  Obviously, I am a huge fan.  It is one of the great historical epics and one of my favorite war movies.  I show it, not so much because of its accuracy, but more because of its entertainment value plus its historical value.  I have done a lot of research on the movie and want to share some of it.  So what follows is a series of threads on this remarkable movie.  You might want to start with my review of it at "Spartacus".

HISTORY OR HOLLYWOOD:  SPARTACUS

1. Spartacus was a Thracian who was born a slave.
2. Spartacus was bought by Batiatus from a salt mine and trained at his gladiator school near Capua.
3. Spartacus was trained at a gladiator school in Capua.
4. Spartacus’ “wife” was a slave from Britainia who he met at the gladiator school.
5. Gladiators did not fight to the death at the schools.
6. Crassus demanded a show which led to the rebellion.
7. The rebellion broke out in the kitchen.
8. Spartacus vowed to never witness a gladiatorial combat again.
9. Spartacus was the leader of the rebels.
10. Spartacus turned down the suggestion of crossing the Alps and opted for marching south to hook up with pirates 
11. The rebels set up camp on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius and were joined by thousands of slaves.
12. Glabrus came after them with the Roman garrison, but the slaves surprised his unfortified camp.  
13. Spartacus’ plan was to move to the southern tip of Italy and hire Cilician pirates to transport them back to their homes.
14. The slave army defeated several Roman armies.
15. Crassus was appointed First Consul by the Senate and made commander in chief with the purpose of putting down the rebellion.  His plan was to establish order.
16. Crassus was trying to force Spartacus to march on Rome by having Pompey and Lucullus sandwich him.
17. The pirates were bought off by Crassus and betrayed Spartacus.
18. Spartacus decided to march on Rome for a decisive battle and set all the slaves free.
19. Spartacus used fire rollers in the final battle.  Spartacus fought on horseback.  Crixus was killed in the battle.  Crassus won because Pompey and Lucullus arrived as reinforcements.
20. Spartacus and the survivors were crucified along the road to Rome.
21. Crassus took power and exiled Gracchus.  Gracchus committed suicide.


1. Spartacus was a Thracian who was born a slave.  HOLLYWOOD  Although he was from Thrace, Spartacus was probably an auxiliary in the Roman army.  He was probably in the cavalry.  For some reason, he deserted and became an outlaw.  He was then captured.  He was probably about 30 years old at the time.
2. Spartacus was bought by Batiatus from a salt mine.  HISTYWOOD  Most likely Spartacus was bought at a slave auction in Rome.  The Batiatus of the film was based on Spartacus’ owner Lentulus Batiatus (sometimes Vatia).  
3. Spartacus was trained at a gladiator school in Capua.  HISTORY  Batiatus’ school was located in Capua, as were many other schools.  Most of his gladiators were Thracians with the second most being Gauls.  The training would have been similar to what was depicted in the movie.
4. Spartacus’ “wife” was a slave from Britainia who he met at the gladiator school.  HOLLYWOOD Spartacus was probably married, but to another Thracian.  It is possible that she was some type of priestess who played a role in developing Spartacus’ reputation.  The Romans had not conquered Britainia at the time of the revolt.
5. Gladiators did not fight to the death at the schools.  HISTORY  Gladiators were valuable property and their lives would not have been risked at the school.  In fact, even in the arena, it was not common for the matches to end in death.
6. Crassus demanded a show which led to the rebellion.  HOLLYWOOD  There is no reason to believe that Crassus ever visited Batiatus.  If he had, it is most likely that his party would have put thumbs up, not down, to indicate they wanted Draba to finish off Spartacus.  Draba fights as a Retiarius, which was a gladiator armed with a net and a trident.  Spartacus fights as a Thracian with a sword (it should have been curved) and a small, round shield.
7. The rebellion broke out in the kitchen.  HISTYWOOD  It did start in the kitchen. The slaves used cleavers and spits to break out.  It did not start because of resentment about the fights to the death.  Most likely the cause was general mistreatment.  74 gladiators got away and they lucked into finding a wagon load of gladiator weapons on the road nearby.
8. Spartacus vowed to never witness a gladiatorial combat again.  HOLLYWOOD  Spartacus was not the humane individual of the movie.  After one of his victories over the Romans, he made a point of having some of the captives fight to the death.
9. Spartacus was the leader of the rebels.  HISTYWOOD  Spartacus was the most respected of the triumvirate that included the Gauls Crixus and Oenamus.  There were disagreements on strategy between Spartacus and the other two.
10. Spartacus turned down the suggestion of crossing the Alps and opted for marching south to hook up with pirates.  HOLLYWOOD  This is the opposite of the fact that Spartacus’ original plan was to exit Italy via an Alpine pass  When they approached the pass, Crixus and his followers refused to leave the plunder-rich Italian countryside.  Spartacus acquiesced to this for reasons unknown. 
11. The rebels set up camp on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius and were joined by thousands of slaves.  HISTORY  From there they accumulated recruits, trained, and made raids on the countryside.
12. Glabrus came after them with the Roman garrison, but the slaves surprised his unfortified camp.  HISTORY  Glabrus is based on Claudius Glaber who was a praetor.  There is no evidence that he was an ally of Crassus.  He did not take six cohorts from the Roman garrison.  Actually, his force consisted on 3,000 ill-trained militia.  He proceeded to block the road leading to the rebel camp with the intention of starving the into submission.  Spartacus and his men used vine ropes to climb down the cliffside and surprise the camp which was not fortified.  
13. Spartacus’ plan was to move to the southern tip of Italy and hire Cilician pirates to transport them back to their homes.  HOLLYWOOD  It appears Spartacus plan was to escape Italy by way of the Alps.
14. The slave army defeated several Roman armies.  HISTORY  On word of Glaber’s defeat, the Senate appointed Varinius praetor and sent him after the rebels.  He recruited on the march.  Spartacus ambushed two wings of his army.  The slave army then moved south as Varinius regrouped.  In the ensuing battle, Varinius’ army performed poorly and he was badly defeated.  After this battle, Spartacus had some of the captured legionaries duel and others were crucified.  It was after this victory that the rebels marched north to the Alps, but decided not to cross.  Part of the army broke away led by Crixus with their main goal being plunder.  Two Roman armies destroyed his force in the Battle of Mount Garganus.  Spartacus got revenge by defeating the two Roman armies and at funeral games for Crixus had thousands of captives fight.  Once again Spartacus headed north, but again decided not to cross the Alps. 
15. Crassus was appointed First Consul by the Senate and made commander in chief with the purpose of putting down the rebellion.  His plan was to establish order.  HOLLYWOOD  Crassus was one of the richest men in Rome but he was not ostentatious about it.  He lived in a nonluxurious home.  He was popular with the common people because he catered to them politically.  He was a private citizen at the time that the Senate gave him emergency powers to deal with the emergency.  He was a logical choice because he was a gifted recruiter, wealthy enough to foot a lot of the bill, and had already had military success in Spain and with Sulla.
16. Crassus was trying to force Spartacus to march on Rome by having Pompey and Lucullus sandwich him.  HOLLYWOOD  As Spartacus moved southward, Crassus sent part of his army under Mummius to trail him but with strict orders not to engage.  Mummius got overconfident and disobeyed the orders resulting in a bad defeat that featured some Roman units to panic and run.  Crassus used decimation to punish the offending units and restore discipline.  
17. The pirates were bought off by Crassus and betrayed Spartacus.  HISTYWOOD After defeating Mummius and losing a detachment to Crassus, Spartacus proceeded to the toe of Italy.  He did try to make arrangements with Cilician pirates for transport to Sicily, but they abandoned him.  This betrayal was most probably due to them being untrustworthy pirates.  An attempt by the rebels to construct rafts and float to Sicily was a dismal failure.
18. Spartacus decided to march on Rome for a decisive battle and set all the slaves free.  HOLLYWOOD  Crassus tried to trap Spartacus in the toe by building entrenchments blocking the rebel army in.  Spartacus attempted twice to break through, but failed.  He crucified a Roman prisoner in no man’s land to emphasize to his followers that it was victory or this.  On a snowy night, a good bit of Spartacus’ army managed to escape the trap.  Some of the Gauls broke off and were ambushed by the Romans.  Spartacus arrived in the nick of time to save them, but a few days later Crassus used a diversion to occupy him and finished off the Gauls.  Spartacus moved on and at one point turned on Crassus vanguard and gave it a nice whipping.  He may have been heading for Brundisium hoping for some type of shipping when he heard that Lucullus army had landed.  He decided to turn and face Crassus.
19. Spartacus used fire rollers in the final battle.  Spartacus fought on horseback.  Crixus was killed in the battle.  Crassus won because Pompey and Lucullus arrived as reinforcements.  HOLLYWOOD  Spartacus provoked the Battle of Silarus by attacking some Roman soldiers who were digging a trench.  The two armies then formed up.  The two sides were similar in numbers, but not quality.  Before the fight opened, Spartacus made a show of killing his horse.  During the battle, Spartacus attempted to cut his way to Crassus.  He killed two centurions in the process, but was himself slayed after he was hit in the thigh by a javelin.
20. Spartacus and the survivors were crucified along the road to Rome.  HISTYWOOD  Spartacus died in battle, but 6,000 slave survivors were crucified along the Appian Way.
21. Crassus took power and exiled Gracchus.  Gracchus committed suicide.  HOLLYWOOD  Not only did he not become dictator, but Crassus did not even get credit for the victory.  The remnants of Spartacus’ force ran into Pompey’s army and were finished off.  Pompey got back to Rome first and claimed the lion’s share of the victory.  The two men eventually shared power with Julius Caesar in the First Triumvirate.  Gracchus was a fictional character based on any number of Senators who defended the Republic.

RATING  =  .36