After its final victory over Carthage in the
Third Punic War in 146 BC, the Roman Republic was enjoying a period of relative peace, having
established itself as the dominant power in the Mediterranean. However, when there are not enemies abroad,
enemies within will emerge. This is the story of the Servile Wars, a string
of 3 slave rebellions that rocked the Republic in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, culminating
in the famous gladiator revolt and last stand led by Spartacus. This video is brought to you by The Ridge
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code “KINGSANDGENERALS”! Though Spartacus’ revolt in 73 BC is the
most well-known today, it was by no means the first. That honour belongs to the one which happened
in Sicily 60 years earlier in 135 BC. The Romans had conquered the majority of the
island at the end of the First Punic War in 241 BC. Previous conquests on the Italian peninsula
had resulted in annexation, and the locals in the areas, the socii, were granted a substantial
degree of autonomy. Though contributing troops to the Republic,
they were not required to pay tribute and they were treated more as allies with Rome
holding hegemonic power. Meanwhile Sicily became the first Roman province
and so was a different case; not only was it a mix of numerous different cultures, but
it was also a place of substantial wealth thanks to its fertile lands and ideal location. As a result, the Romans imposed a new system
of provincial rule over the island, with a governor being assigned and tribute collected. Although the province was under Roman rule,
the Carthaginians still had substantial interest and influence there, and it would not be until
after the Second Punic War in 201 BC that these last Carthaginian vestiges were forced
from the island. Following the war, sympathisers of the Carthaginian
cause had their land confiscated, resulting in huge swathes of land being claimed by the
Republic. This fertile but cheap land attracted many
investors, who bought huge tracts and began establishing vast estates, precursors to latifundia. Slavery was rife, not only in Sicily, but
throughout the Mediterranean, and large numbers of these slaves were bought to Sicily in order
to work the farms of the estates. However, conditions were poor; many land owners
did not provide enough food or clothing for the slaves, who, as a result, often were forced
to turn to banditry and plundering to survive. Though this was a constant worry for the Senators
in Rome, the lands in Sicily were often held by powerful equites who had judiciary powers. Thus, whenever charges were brought against
the landowners, they were simply dismissed. With the Senate effectively powerless, it
was only a matter of time before such a disenfranchised group were unified and rose in revolt, something
that finally happened in 135BC. Eunus was a Syrian slave, one of many who
had been brought over to the island and now lived in the city of Enna. But, instead of being a labourer, he was somewhat
of an entertainer. He performed magic tricks, fire breathing,
and claimed to have divine visions and messages that prophesied him becoming a king. Antigenes, Eunus’ master, would often parade
Eunus at dinner parties, having him perform his tricks and laughing at his claims to kingship. However, the slaves in Enna were treated particularly
badly, and when they conspired to revolt in 135 BC, they turned to Eunus as their leader,
inspired by his proclamations of divine favour. The revolt began when 400 of these slaves
rose up in Enna, killing their masters, along with their masters’ wives and children,
and gathering other slaves in the city to their cause. The revolt was brutal; kangaroo courts were
established and the accused tortured and executed, and Eunus ordered that all of the wealthy
male citizens of Enna be hunted down and killed, save those who could forge weapons. These, the slaves themselves put into chains
and forced them to work producing weapons for the rebels. Eunus proclaimed himself king and took the
name Antiochus, after the famous Seleucid king. Soon, he was able to assemble and arm a force
of 6,000 slaves, some with proper weaponry, others with more basic weapons; slings, hatchets
and rudimentary spears. Having been forced into a life of banditry
by their masters, most had at least some fighting experience and some had even been soldiers
who had been enslaved as prisoners of war, or bodyguards. With this force assembled, he began ravaging
the countryside and gathering still more men to his cause, until his army numbered some
10,000. The Romans did make attempts to quell the
revolt, however, they had not fully realised the seriousness of the situation, and the
small forces that they sent to deal with the rebels were quickly overcome by sheer force
of numbers. Soon after this, another group of slaves on
Sicily revolted, this time led by a slave and infamous brigand called Cleon. He had been a fighter since his youth in Asia
Minor, and upon hearing of Eunus’ success had seized upon the opportunity. The Romans initially hoped that these two
factions would fight, and thus destroy each other, but instead, Cleon sided with Eunus,
bringing a further 5,000 men to his cause and acting as his general. Together, they were able to capture the city
of Acragas, whose defences had been left in disrepair. The slaves were careful to target the wealthy,
mostly leaving the lower classes alone and, due to the huge economic disparity in Sicily,
many of the lower class even rallied to Eunus, further swelling his numbers. After a month, a Roman Praetor, Lucius Hypsaeus,
was sent with 8,000 Sicilian militia to quell the revolt. Though the fact that a Praetor was sent shows
that the Romans were now taking the revolt more seriously, they were still not doing
enough. By this time, Eunus and Cleon had 20,000 men
under their command. The 8,000 militia proved no match for their
more numerous and determined rivals and were quickly routed. Following this, the revolt spread even further
across the island, the slaves taking numerous cities and rallying still greater numbers
to their cause. Three other Praetors with similar sized forces
were also sent against the rebels, each being defeated in turn. Their success inspired revolts in other parts
of the Republic, small revolts rising in both Rome itself and Greece, though both of these
were quickly crushed before they could develop. In 133 BC the revolt in Sicily was still going
strong though, the slave’s numbers now growing to as many as 60,000, controlling the majority
of the islands key cities and even minting their own coins. But Rome now decided to act with force, sending
an army headed by the Consul, Lucius Piso. Under his command, the Romans were able to
make their first significant gains, recapturing Morgantina, killing 8,000 slaves in the battle
and crucifying those taken as prisoners. This would act as a turning point in the Roman’s
fortunes. The following year, another Consul, Publius
Rupilius, was also sent to the island. Rupilius began a ruthless campaign to finally
quell the rebellion. He first besieged the city of Tauromenium,
forcing the rebels inside to resort to cannibalism. Finally, a slave called Sarapion betrayed
the rebels, opening the gates to the Romans. The Romans stormed the city and the slaves,
starved and in no condition to fight, put up little resistance. Rupilius ordered that all the slaves be round
up, tortured, and then thrown off a cliff. Following this, he marched to the rebel’s
de facto capital of Enna where Cleon was stationed and once again, besieged the city. Realising that he would soon face the same
fate as those at Tauromenium, Cleon decided to sally out, preferring to die in battle
then starve behind the city walls. He fought bravely, but was nonetheless cut
down, his body displayed by Rupilius to those still defending the city walls. The rebels’ moral broke at the sight, and
once again, they were betrayed, with the Romans seizing the city. Eunus had not been present during the siege
but upon hearing the death of his general and fall of Enna, he fled with 1,000 men into
the mountains. By this point, the slaves knew they were defeated. Rupilius’ ruthless tactics had worked in
breaking the morale of the rebels, and the few who remained with Eunus knew that Rupilius
would soon be marching on them next. Rather than face the brutal punishments of
Rupilius, the slaves instead decided to behead each other rather than be taken alive. When Rupilius arrived in the mountains, he
found Eunus with a few close friends hiding in a cave. The slave leader was dragged out and imprisoned. Though the Romans planned to torture and execute
Eunus as they had with other slaves, he died of illness in prison before they could. The following year, 131, Rupilius was left
in Sicily with a select group of soldiers to mop up the remnants of the revolt, but
with the deaths of Cleon and Eunus, the First Servile War was over. In total, the war had cost the Romans as many
as 20,000 in battle as well as an unknown number of civilians. Although the revolt had little tangible effect
on the Republic, they did become an inspiration for later slaves seeking to overthrow their
masters. In 104BC, just thirty years after the First
Servile War, Sicily would once again be plunged into the chaos of a slave uprising. The Roman Republic had spent the last few
years in long and difficult wars: the Jugurthine War of 112-106BC, and the ongoing Cimbrian
War, which started in 113BC. Following the conclusion of the Jugurthine
War, its victor and one of Rome’s best generals, Gaius Marius, had been given command of the
Cimbrian War. The war had already cost Rome and her allies
almost 60,000 men, forcing Marius to conduct a mass recruitment campaign in order to bolster
his numbers. As a result, he had asked Nicomedes III of
Bithynia for soldiers, however, Nicomedes replied saying that he would be unable to
do so, as the majority of Bithynians suitable for military service had been seized as slaves
by Romans for not being able to pay their taxes. The Senate responded by issuing a decree that
no citizen of an allied state could be held as a slave in a Roman province. This decision was made in the hopes that it
would provide Marius the manpower he would need to defeat the Cimbri, but would also
cost the Republic dearly. In 104 BC Publius Licinius Nerva, the Propraetor
of Sicily, wanting to quickly carry out the Senate’s decree in his province, immediately
set around 800 slaves of allied nations free. This decision not only alienated slaves of
other nations, but also angered the nobles who owned large amounts of slaves, worried
that they were going to lose their workforce. Through bribes and political pressure, Nerva
quickly caved to the nobles, refusing to free any more slaves, and sending those that appealed
back to their masters. As a result of this, 180 slaves outside of
Syracuse revolted, killing their masters, taking up arms, and fortifying a hilltop location. Nerva quickly mustered together a force of
soldiers and marched on the slaves. However, he did not have enough men to fully
conduct a siege of their fortifications. Instead, he used loyal slaves to pretend to
defect, enter the fortifications, and then betray the rebels, allowing the Romans to
storm the fortifications. Some of the slaves were killed in the fighting,
whilst others, fearing capture, took their own lives. Nerva disbanded his troops shortly after. However, a much larger rebellion had taken
place almost simultaneously. 80 slaves had risen up and killed Publius
Clonius, an equites, and, having been left to their own devices, had managed to gather
800 slaves on Mount Caprianus outside Heracleia in just one week. As Nerva had not been aware of this uprising,
and so had not taken any action against them, rumours spread that he was a coward, and by
the time Nerva did find out, the force outside Heracleia numbered almost 2,000. The Propraetor quickly headed to Heracleia,
but hearing of the size of the enemy force, he ordered the garrison commander of Enna,
Marcus Titinius, to take 600 of his men to confront the rebels. Titinius responded quickly and marched to
Mount Caprianus, drawing his men up for battle. The mountainous terrain, however, did not
lend itself to the formation focused style of battle the Romans were accustomed to. Moreover, alongside their superior numbers,
many of the slaves were armed with slings, and the higher terrain gave them a distinct
advantage. The battle was short, as the Romans were quickly
broken, many being killed and others abandoning their weapons and fleeing the battlefield
along with Titinius. This was a great victory for the slaves; not
only were they able to collect hundreds of arms and pieces of armour from the battlefield,
their triumph also inspired others to join their cause. In just a few days their numbers swelled to
over 6,000. With their numbers growing, the slaves decided
to elect a king, and still inspired by Eunus, they elected a man named Salvius, who, like
Eunus, was famed for his divinations and prophecies. As his predecessor had, Salvius took the name
of a Seleucid king, dubbing himself Tryphon [treefon], after Diodotus Tryphon. He immediately sent his force to pillage the
countryside, seeking to attack the large estates and gather more slaves to his banner. Soon, he was able to amass a force of 20,000
men, and even 2,000 horses that had been taken from the estates. He now felt confident enough to attack the
cities of Sicily. He marched and besieged Morgantina. Nerva had not been idle. He too had been gathering together an army,
amassing 10,000 allied Italian and Sicilian troops. This force assembled, he marched to Morgantina
in order to relieve the city. Salvius had not expected such a quick reaction,
and had focused the majority of his forces on the siege, leaving only a handful of slaves
to guard the camp. Nerva was able to quickly seize the camp,
killing the guards and seizing the booty and women that Salvius had left there, before
heading to confront Salvius outside Morgantina. Not wanting to be caught between Nerva’s
army and the cities defenders, Salvius abandoned the siege, preferring to defeat Nerva first. His army took up position on a small hill
en route from Nerva’s location to the city and prepared for battle. Nerva’s force soon also arrived and formed
up. Salvius was quick to seize the initiative
however, charging down the hill with his cavalry flanking the Roman force. It was a disaster for Nerva; his army, being
taken aback by the impetus and ferocity of the charge, and with the slave cavalry bearing
down on their flank, put up little resistance. When Salvius announced across the battlefield
that any man who dropped his weapons would be spared, Nerva’s army broke completely,
many throwing down their arms and running. Only 600 of the Italians and Sicilians had
been killed in the battle, but more than 4,000 had been taken prisoner, others fleeing with
Nerva. This was an astounding victory for Salvius;
not only had he won the field, but his promise to spare any man who abandoned his weapons
allowed him to fully arm his army. He once again turned to besieging Morgantina. The slaves inside in the city had been promised
their freedom if they would assist in the defence. However, Nerva once again made a disastrous
decision, announcing that no more slaves would be freed until the revolt was contained. As a result, the slaves inside the city quickly
betrayed the defenders, opening the gates and allowing Salvius to capture the city. Salvius was now effectively in control of
the East of Sicily. Meanwhile in the western part of the island,
yet another revolt had started. A slave called Athenion had been inspired
by both the First Servile War and Salvius’ uprising, and had managed to build an army
of over 10,000. Athenion was a man noted for his courage,
and also professed to have prophetic powers, endearing slaves to his cause as Eunus had
previously. He too was crowned a king, but unlike his
predecessors and Salvius, Athenion did not accept every slave who wished to revolt into
his army. Instead, he picked those who had experience
of warfare, whilst using the others as workers in order to keep his force well fed and supplied. By doing this he was able to create an almost
para-military force, with which he began besieging the city of Lilybaeum. This proved too big a task however, as Lilybaeum
was a well-fortified city, and was easily able to resist the slaves until a relief force
of Mauretenian auxiliaries relieved the city, forcing Athenion to retreat. Despite this setback for the slaves, the entire
island was effectively now in chaos. The wealthy Roman citizens were forced to
remain in cities for their own safety, whilst the slaves and lower class citizens rampaged
across the countryside. Amongst this chaos, Salvius strengthened his
position. He gathered his force, now totalling 30,000,
outside of the city of Triocala and, paralleling Eunus and Cleon, summoned Athenion. Athenion answered the summons, bringing 3,000
of his more experienced slaves with him. Possibly out of a desire to mimic Cleon, or
simply intimidated by the size of Salvius’ force, Athenion pledged loyalty, acting as
his military advisor and general. Together, they captured Triocala, once again
through the help of disgruntled slaves inside, and began fortifying the city. Salvius declared the city his royal capital,
established a cabinet of advisors, and even wore a purple toga with lictors preceding
him; in effect making himself into the thing the Republic feared most: a Roman king. Nerva had proved himself incapable of handling
the situation and, as a result, at the end of his term as Praetor at the start of 103BC,
Lucius Licinius Lucullus, father of the famous Roman general of the same name, was sent to
replace him. The Senate had assigned Lucullus a sizeable
force of 14,000 Roman and 3,000 allied soldiers. Salvius wanted to wait in Triocala to fight
from the city walls, but Athenion instead advised to fight the Romans in the open, rather
than risk being forced into the same disastrous situation as those in Tauromenium 30 years
earlier. Salvius accepted this advice and gathered
still more slaves to his banner before marching to Scirthea with a force of 40,000. The slave force made camp just over a mile
from the Roman camp and the two armies began slowly closing the gap between them. Fierce skirmishes broke out between the two
forces, each harassing the other with cavalry and lighter missile troops. When the two main lines met, the fighting
was furious, both sides suffering heavy casualties, and neither being able to gain the upper hand. However, on the flanks, Athenion was having
much more success, winning his side of the battle and threatening the Roman centre. Just as it seemed as the Romans would be surrounded
though, Athenion was wounded and dragged from his horse. Believing that their general had been killed,
the slaves broke and fled the battlefield. Salvius was unable to stop the rout, and knowing
the battle was lost, also retreated. In this rout, many slaves were cut down by
the Romans, and a total of 20,000 lay dead at the end of the day. However, Lucullus failed to pursue them any
further, and the other 20,000, including Salvius, were able to retreat to Triocala. Perhaps more importantly, Athenion too was
able to escape the battlefield. After being wounded, he had pretended to lie
dead and had then fled during the night to Triocala. It wasn’t until nine days later that Lucullus
marched on and besieged Triocala. Though the slaves were disheartened by their
defeat at Scirthea, they resolved to fight until the end. Lucullus attempted numerous assaults on the
city, hoping to take it by force and so cut the head off the revolt, but the city’s
strong fortifications allowed the slaves to fend off every attempt, inflicting heavy casualties
on the Romans. These victories only emboldened the slaves
and eventually Lucullus was forced to make camp outside the city, preparing for a siege. The Senate was not pleased. Seeing Lucullus’ failure to capitalise on
his initial victory at Scirthea, and his failure to take Triocala, as either the result of
incompetence or corruption, they decided to replace him as Praetor at the end of the year
with Gaius Servilius. Lucullus was enraged by this decision, seeing
it as an unfair betrayal by the Senate. As a result, when Servilius landed at the
start of 102BC to take command, Lucullus ordered his army to burn their camp, supplies and
siege constructions and then disbanded them. By doing this, he hoped to humiliate his successor
by making sure he would not be able to make any significant advances in the war and so
dispel the charges of incompetency made against himself. The plan worked. Salvius died at some point during 102BC of
unknown causes, and Athenion succeeded him as overall leader of the revolt. Despite this set back, thanks to Lucullus’
actions, Servilius unable to coordinate a concentrated effort against him and Athenion
was able to rampage across Sicily, besieging and taking even more cities. At one point, Servilius did manage to collect
a large enough force to try and face Athenion, but Athenion was able to catch the Praetor’s
army by surprise in camp, taking the camp and forcing Servilius to retreat. Despite Lucullus’ initial success the year
previously, by the end of 102BC the revolt was as strong as ever. Lucullus and Servilius were both charged by
the Senate for incompetency and were exiled as a result. In 101BC Gaius Marius was once again elected
consul, with Manius Aquillius as his colleague. Gaius Marius was Rome’s greatest general
at the time, and Manius Aquillius had fought alongside him in the Cimbrian Wars and was
a trusted and veteran leader. The revolt in Sicily had now got the point
of threatening a famine in Rome, thus jeopardising the ongoing war with the Cimbri. As a result, it was decided that Aquillius
be sent with a full consular army, around 20,000 men including 2,500 cavalry, most likely
diverted from the Cimbrian front, to crush the revolt once and for all. Aquillius immediately forced Athenion into
a pitched battle. Perhaps due to his success the year before,
Athenion was confident that his army, numbering between 20,000-30,000, would again prove victorious. However, confronted by an experienced army
led by a skilled and veteran general, the slaves stood little chance. The battle was short and bloody, with only
10,000 slaves managing to escape. During this battle, Aquillius and Athenion
found themselves fighting each other face to face, and though Athenion was able to wound
the consul, Aquillius finally killed the slave king. The remaining slaves fled leaderless to numerous
strongholds and fortifications throughout Sicily. Aquillius was relentless in his pursuit. Each stronghold was besieged and the slaves
inside starved into defeat. When the last stronghold of just 1,000 slaves
was left, Aquillius sent envoys to them, requesting that they surrender and take their chances
fighting animals in the arena. Rather than face this humiliating fate, the
slaves did as their predecessors in the First Servile War had done and took their own lives,
each man killing another, the last falling on his sword. Both Sicilian revolts achieved little. However, they would act as an inspiration
for a much larger, terrifying and dangerous revolt; the Third Servile War under the leadership
of the gladiator Spartacus. The first two Servile Wars had been focused
on Sicily where there was a huge concentration of disenfranchised slaves. However, this problem was not unique to Sicily
alone, but was prevalent throughout Magna Graecia, including Southern Italy. Thousands of these enslaved were put to work
on latifundia, large farming estates, but many others, particularly those with military
experience, were sent to gladiator schools, ludi, in order to fight in the Roman games. One of the largest gladiator schools was in
Capua, and it was here that Spartacus was sent. Spartacus was a Thracian who had served as
either a mercenary or auxiliary for the Roman army before, in unknown circumstances, being
imprisoned and sent to the gladiator school. Lentulus Batiates, the owner of the school,
was known as a particularly cruel master, and as a result, in 73 BC 200 of the gladiators
formed a plan to try and escape. They were betrayed, but before they could
be stopped, approximately 70 seized what weapons they could from the kitchens - choppers, knives
and spits - and fought their way out of the school. As they escaped, they managed to steal gladiatorial
arms and armour. Thus equipped, they took up a defensive position
outside of Capua, preparing to face the small force Batiates had sent to recapture them. Here they nominated Spartacus as their leader,
and two Gauls, Crixus and Oenomaus, as his lieutenants. Together, these three led the gladiators in
the defence, easily fighting off Batiates’ men and taking as much of their weapons and
armour as possible. With this immediate threat handled, the gladiators
proceeded to plunder the countryside around Capua, attacking estates in the area and gathering
more and more former slaves to their cause, swelling their numbers to perhaps a few thousand. They equipped as many of them with the captured
arms as they could before retreating to a highly defensible position on Mount Vesuvius. As the revolt was happening in Campania, close
to Rome itself and with many lands in the area being owned by influential politicians,
the Senate acted faster than they had in the previous Servile Wars. However, they were still seeing the event
not as a full blown revolt or start of a war, but more as a collection of simple bandits. As a result, when they took action they only
sent a Praetor, Gaius Claudius Glaber, with 3,000 hastily assembled militia, as opposed
to professional legionaries. Glaber was hesitant to attack a trained force
in such a well defended position, and so instead opted to block the only passage up the mountain,
hoping to force Spartacus into surrendering. But the latter proved himself a cunning leader;
using the vines and trees in the area, Spartacus’ force made long ladders and ropes, allowing
them to climb down the steep sides of the mountain without being noticed. Quickly, they marched around the base of the
mountain and fell upon Glaber’s men from behind. Taken completely by surprise, Glaber’s force
was almost totally destroyed. Following this victory, even more flocked
to Spartacus. He was a popular leader, providing as many
of them as he could with captured weapons, and dividing the spoils of war equally among
his force. A second force, possibly a full Legion, under
the Praetor Publius Varinius was also sent against Spartacus. However, for some reason Varinius had decided
to split his force between two Legates, Furius and Cossinius. Furius’ force of 2,000 was forced to give
battle and was quickly defeated, while Cossinius, leading his men to reinforce Furius, was caught
encamped by a river and slaughtered, with the Praetor only just escaping with his life. After these successes, Spartacus’ numbers
grew to almost 70,000, with the captured Roman camps providing still more equipment for his
growing army. With his force now considerably larger, Spartacus
felt confident enough to spend the remainder of the year raiding Southern Italy, including
Nola, Nuceria, Thurii, and Metapontum. These towns did try and put up some resistance,
and in one of the raids, Oenomaus was killed, but Spartacus’ force was so large, and still
growing, that it would be effectively unstoppable, save for with a consular army. Alarmed by Spartacus’ success against the
Praetors and his proximity to Rome, the Senate did indeed decide to send both their consuls,
Lucius Gellius Publicola and Gnaeus Lentulus Clodianus, with consular armies, 20,000 men
each, to handle what the Romans finally realised was a large and organised revolt. The fact that both the consuls were sent against
Spartacus shows just how fearful the Senate was of Spartacus; even at the very height
of the previous Servile Wars only one consul had been sent. At the start of 72 BC, these two armies set
out to finally crush the uprising. The events of this year are vague and not
well documented, but there seems to have been some division between Crixus and Spartacus. Crixus appears to have wanted to remain in
Southern Italy, raiding the country and hopefully gathering more men to the cause, while Spartacus
was intent to push North, possibly through Cisalpine Gaul to freedom. As a result, the army became split, with 30,000
staying with Crixus in the South, the rest, possibly 60,000, heading north with Spartacus. This divide would prove to be the first major
setback for the former slaves. Publicola was able to catch Crixus’ army,
and forced it to give battle near Mount Garganus. They had proved themselves a formidable force,
but without the leadership of Spartacus, a consular army was too much for Crixus to handle. Though he and his men fought hard and bravely,
they were destroyed by the Romans, with 20,000 including Crixus losing their lives, and the
remainder fleeing to the countryside. Spartacus continued his march north but his
road was blocked by Clodianus. Publicola, following his victory over Crixus,
was quickly marching north as well, hoping to catch Spartacus between their two armies. Spartacus knew that being caught between two
consular armies on either side would spell disaster, and so determined to defeat them
in detail. He first turned his attention to the most
immediate threat: Clodianus. Despite having a full consular army, it seems
Clodianus had underestimated just how many men Spartacus would have with him, probably
assuming that his numbers would be similar to Crixus. Rather than delaying until Publicola could
assist him, Clodianus gave battle, and a combination of numbers and Spartacus’ leadership resulted
in a comprehensive victory for the rebel troops. Capitalising on this victory, Spartacus quickly
marched to face Publicola before word of his colleagues defeat could reach him. Publicola too was quickly defeated, both consular
armies retreating to Rome to regroup. In a desperate attempt to regain some honour
and avoid public disgrace, the two consuls tried to combine the remnants of their two
forces to face Spartacus again in Picenum, but were once again defeated. Spartacus’ victory over two consuls brought
even more followers to his banner, giving him perhaps as many as 120,000, including
civilians. He briefly considered marching on Rome itself,
but quickly realised that, despite his numbers, his army did not have the engineering skills
needed to take a city with such formidable defenses. Instead, not wishing to be caught in winter
in the north of Italy, Spartacus again headed south, spending the winter raiding the country,
and trading plunder with merchants in exchange for even more weapons and armour. It was now the third year of the war. So far, despite a few setbacks, Spartacus
had the best of the fighting, defeating praetors and consuls in the field. As a result, when the elections for the praetorship
came around, few candidates could be found, most fearing being forced to face Spartacus. However, one man, Marcus Licinius Crassus
seized upon the opportunity. Crassus was one of the wealthiest men in Rome
and had been steadily climbing the cursus honorum. Crassus was no stranger to warfare, having
served admirably as one of Sulla’s commanders during the Civil War in 82 BC, but he knew
that to progress to the highest rank of consul, he needed to secure himself a notable military
victory personally. As a result, he volunteered himself for the
praetorship, even offering his own wealth to help fund the war effort. He was quickly given full command of the war
and assigned six new Legions, as well the remnants of Publicola’s and Claudianus’
armies, a total of around 30,000-50,000 legionaries plus auxiliaries. Crassus’ first order of business was to
instil discipline in his men; the Legions had performed poorly thus far against Spartacus,
breaking quickly and shaming the Republic. Crassus understood that this was not due to
a lack of training, but due to the soldier’s fear of Spartacus himself, and so Crassus
decided to make his men fear him even more. Upon taking command of the two consular armies
that had been defeated so soundly by Spartacus, Crassus ordered they be decimated; they were
divided into groups of 10, drew lots, and then forced to kill 1 out of the 10 - the
one that had drawn the short straw. This was an ancient form of discipline in
the Roman army, but had the desired effect of making Crassus’ troops fear him even
more than the enemy. Crassus next sent two legions under the command
of one of his legates, Mummius, to march behind Spartacus’ army in order to cut off its
retreat and to scout their army, giving him strict orders not to engage. However, Mummius, perhaps wanting to win glory
for himself, disobeyed this order and attacked Spartacus from behind. Once again though, the legions were routed
and Mummius was forced to return to Crassus. Crassus was furious at Mummius for his insubordination
and at the legions for routing. Once again, he gathered the 500 who had initially
led the rout, and decimated them in front of the rest of his army. Following this, Crassus moved his entire force
to face Spartacus. Despite Spartacus’ successes, he was nervous
about facing Crassus’ eight legions with his roughly 70,000 men. Instead, Spartacus decided to withdraw to
Lucania in South Italy. Whilst here, he attempted to negotiate passage
with some pirates to Sicily, hoping to leave some of his army there to stir up another
rebellion and bring reinforcements. However, despite taking the payment, the pirates
betrayed Spartacus and abandoned him. This gave Crassus enough time to catch up
to Spartacus near Rhegium. Utilising his armies size and skill, Crassus
began construction of a palisade and ditch across the isthmus, 37 miles long. Spartacus’ force kept harassing the workers,
but that had little effect, and Spartacus was still apprehensive about facing Crassus’
full force head on. The fortifications were soon complete. Spartacus found himself trapped and running
short on provisions. With Crassus’ army stretched across the
line, Spartacus tried to focus on one point to force a way through, but the Roman fortifications
held and 6,000 of Spartacus’ men were killed. Assaulting the fortified legions seemed hopeless. Fortunately for Spartacus however, a fierce
snow storm blew in one night, hampering visibility. Seizing the opportunity, Spartacus again focused
his army on one point in the line, filling the Roman ditch and overrunning the palisade,
slipping away with 50,000 men into Lucania and trying to push to Brundisium. The Senate became nervous upon hearing this,
fearing that Spartacus had outmanoeuvred Crassus and would march on Rome. As a result, they sent Pompey the Great, who
had recently returned from fighting another revolt in Spain, south to assist Crassus. Furthermore, they also requested Marcus Terentius
Varro Lucullus, brother of the more famous Lucius Licinius Lucullus, bring reinforcements
from his governorship in Macedonia to help. However, Crassus was far from finished. Approximately 20,000, led by Cannicus and
Castus were still trapped by the Roman fortifications, and Crassus was determined to finish them
off first. Crassus approached them cautiously, sending
two legates and 6,000 men to stealthily seize some high ground behind their camp. However, they were spotted by locals who rushed
to inform Cannicus and Castus of their position. The former slaves quickly fell upon the Romans,
their superior numbers allowing them to almost completely encircle the legionaries. The fighting was brutal, the Romans desperately
trying to buy time for Crassus’ main force to arrive, their foes equally desperate to
cut a way through before being encircled. Fortunately for the Romans, Crassus had moved
fast and his main force soon arrived. It was now Cannicus and Castus who were encircled. Their warriors fought back fiercely, trying
to cut a way out of the encirclement, but despite their bravery, they stood no chance,
assailed from all sides. When the fighting was over, 12,000 former
slaves were dead. With this force neutralised, Crassus now turned
his attention to Spartacus, following his army to Brundisium. There were minor skirmishes as the two forces
marched, Crassus picking off small groups who tried to break away from Spartacus and
forge their own escape, and Spartacus routing Crassus’ scout cavalry. However, just as Spartacus' army was about
to reach Brundusium, they heard that Lucullus had landed in the area with reinforcements. Spartacus desperately tried to make a truce
with Crassus but was scornfully rejected. Instead he started marching his army north
through Campania to try and escape. But once again, he got word of Pompey’s
army from the north. This proved to be the final straw. For 3 years now Spartacus and his men had
fought as free men, and they had no desire to return to being slaves. But now, with three armies closing in from
all sides, escape, and so freedom, seemed impossible. Spartacus and his men instead marched south,
back to Lucania to face Crassus. However, Crassus did not want Pompey or Lucullus
claiming his glory and so had been keeping close to his enemy, and the two met at the
Silarius River in Campania where Spartacus and his remaining troops would make their
last stand. The forces were roughly evenly matched, Spartacus
with 50,000 remaining fighters, and Crassus with 40,000, including a few thousand cavalry. Before the battle began, Spartacus killed
his own horse, proclaiming that if he won the day he would have plenty of other horses
to choose from, and if he lost that he would not need one. His point was clear: retreat would not be
an option; Spartacus would fight to the death. Spartacus’ army charged the Roman ranks,
crashing into the maniples walls of shields. Despite the majority of Spartacus’ army
being slaves originally, they had been trained by Spartacus’ gladiator followers, armed
with plundered Roman weapons, and had three years of experience fighting legionaries. The battle was long and bloody, neither side
being able to make decisive headway. Spartacus, seeing Crassus on a horse behind
the front ranks, desperately tried to fight a way through to his enemy, cutting down two
centurions who tried to block him despite receiving numerous wounds. Eventually however, the gladiator general
was surrounded alone and cut down by Crassus’ bodyguard. His death sent shockwaves throughout his army,
and with their leader slain, they broke. Whilst the initial fighting had been brutal,
the battlefield now became a slaughter. By the end, 36,000 former slaves lay dead
compared to just 1,000 Romans, the remnants fleeing to the countryside. Crassus men quickly pursued them, capturing
6,000, all of whom he crucified along the Appian Way from Rome to Capua. Another 5,000 were taken by Pompey’s forces
coming from the north, again, all of whom were killed, finally putting an end to the
Third Servile War. Rome would never again see a slave revolt
of this scale, and Spartacus would become an inspiration for others fighting for their
freedom throughout history. The Third Servile War is also crucial to the
history of the Roman Republic. Pompey would claim that, as he had captured
the last remnants of Spartacus’ army, he had put the final stop to the rebellion, claiming
a part of Crassus’ glory. Furthermore, both generals now had not only
popularity with the people for defeating what, at the time, was considered the greatest threat
to Rome itself since Hannibal, but also large armies mere miles from Rome’s gates. As a result, in the next year, 70 BC, both
men were elected Consul. Crassus would never forgive Pompey for claiming
part of his glory, but eventually, alongside Julius Caesar, they would form the First Triumvirate
and thus further accelerate the downfall of the Roman Republic and the Rise of the Roman
Empire. We always have more stories to tell, so make
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we will catch you on the next one.
This guys channel is pretty good for ancient warfare in general if anyone is curious.
One of my favorite channels, absolutely worth a watch if you enjoy ancient history and warfare.
Someone needs to redub these videos with a narrator who isn't nasally, British, and monotone.
Does anyone know where to find the actual Roman dates (Not BC/AD) for a timeline? What year in Roman dates was Augustus's reign?