A Picture from History: The Gladiator War

The Roman gladiator had enough.

No longer would Rome watch as the slave Spartacus was forced to kill and fight off wild beasts for the public’s entertainment. 

Freedom awaited, and Spartacus was on the run. 

Along with 70 other gladiators and escaped slaves, Spartacus ran for Mount Vesuvius. The wilds of the mountain would conceal them as they figured out what to do next.

When other slaves in the area heard of what happened, they, too, flocked to Mount Vesuvius. At last, it seemed as if they might have a chance of escaping their bondage forever.

But Rome had no intention of giving him that chance. Three thousand Romans were on their way. And they were closing in…fast.

The Taste of Victory

The gladiators knew what awaited them if the Romans caught them. They were well familiar with torture, the horrors of the Coliseum, and the Roman forms of execution.

Knowing this, Spartacus and his men charged Rome’s 3,000. And they won. 

Publius Verinius was sent to deal with this pitiful nuisance. But when Verinius arrived at Mount Vesuvius, he found that Spartacus had entrenched his men just as the Roman army was fond of doing. 

Verinius let night fall, intent on dealing with the men in the morning.

The sun rose, and the Romans decided now was the time to act. They marched to the trenches, but when they got there, the Romans were shocked to find they were empty. Spartacus used the cover of darkness to silently slip away. 

To the Wild

The army of gladiators and slaves ran into the wilderness of Lucania, where they would better be able to hide from the innumerable Roman soldiers. But then, Spartacus took the offensive. No longer would he hide.

City after city fell to the gladiator army as more and more slaves flocked to his side. Experts estimate that at its peak, Spartacus’ forces were close to 120,000 strong.

All of Rome came to live in a constant state of dread as they eagerly awaited the news of the gladiators. Despite constant streams of Roman soldiers sent to kill him, none of them seemed capable of succeeding. 

Spartacus planned to escape across the Alps, putting the mountains between his men and the Roman Empire.

Yet, for reasons unknown, Spartacus turned southward, where the Romans trapped him and his men in southern Italy.

The Decimator

Marcus Licinius Crassus, a brutal military leader, was assigned to deal with the existential threat to Rome which was the gladiators. Where others had failed, he fully intended to succeed.

Eventually, he was able to finally catch the slippery group and engage. Spartacus saw Crassus on the battlefield and, with spear and shield in hand, fought his way toward him with one goal…kill the Roman. 

Spartacus hacked his way through a centurion in single-handed combat before yet another centurion momentarily halted his progress. This centurion fell to Spartacus’ spear as well.

But the Romans were too many. The battle morally injured Spartacus, yet he still fought on.

He and the rest of his men were eventually slaughtered in battle. And for Rome, The Gladiator War came to an end. 

This is a new style of article for Pew Pew Tactical, if you liked it — let us know in the comments! If you didn’t enjoy it…well phooey. To catch up on previous Pictures from History, click on over to our History Category.