Spartacus and Crassus: The Leaders of the Third Servile War

Spartacus is the world’s most famous slave, and one of the most notorious figures of Ancient Rome. A slave enamored of freedom and willing to fight and die for it, he became especially popular in the years following the Enlightenment, after which he was widely viewed as a poignant champion of liberty in the 18th and 19th centuries. As a result, he became a symbol during struggles like the French Revolution, the American Revolution, the American Civil War and the struggle for emancipation. The reason for Spartacus’s enduring appeal is obvious. After all, he was a gladiator, a profession so violently spectacular that remains one of the most interesting aspects of ancient Rome – as testified by the popularity of such productions as Gladiator and the endless queues of tourist outside the ruins of the Colosseum. Moreover, he was a man who, at least on the surface, fought for freedom – not just his but that of every slave in his region of Italy – and he did so almost two millennia before slavery was officially abolished in the United States. At the same time, it’s often overlooked how the revolt affected Rome, and how the leader who put it down propelled his career and played an outsized role in Roman politics ahead of the civil war between Pompey and Caesar. Marcus Licinius Crassus is most remembered today for being the richest Roman in history, and arguably the richest man in world history, but that came about in part because he played a key role in the revolutionary events that took place in Rome throughout the 1st century B.C., including the dictatorship of Sulla, the Third Servile War, the First Triumvirate, and the Parthian Wars. Crassus was the son of Publius Licinius Crassus, who was consul in 97 B.C., and while very little is known of Crassus’ early life, his career as a military figure began in earnest when he escaped from Rome in 87 B.C. to Spain.