Spartacus

in Roman history, a gladiatorial leader. In 73 B. C. a band of gladiators, under the leadership of a Thracian named Spartacus, escaped from a school at Capua. They plundered a cook shop, where they armed themselves with spits and chopping knives. Happening to meet a chariot filled with gladiatorial arms, they seized these and intrenched themselves on a vine-covered mountain. Escaped slaves and the dissatisfied generally joined their ranks, until the mountain was garrisoned by a force of 70,000 men. Three Roman armies sent to subjugate them were defeated. The Romans were much alarmed lest the states subject to Rome at this time would rise in revolt under the leadership of Spartacus. The revolt was suppressed, however, by Crassus and Pompey. Spartacus had kept the field for three years before he was slain. Elihu Burritt has used this incident skillfully in his Address to the Gladiators, a piece of rhetorical writing well known to the school boy. See Gladiator