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Violence Enters the Senate
133 BC: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, a noble plebeian, was elected tribune. He proposed essential land and economic reforms which threatened the wealthy senatorial classes, so he passed these through the Assembly of Tribes. Gracchus was very popular with the masses, so he ran for a second consecutive term as tribune (though this was unconstitutional). A group of senators led an armed band against him in the Assembly, killing him and 300 of his followers.
123 BC: Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, the younger brother of Tiberius, was elected tribune for two successive years. Through the Assembly, he increased the power of the equestrian class at the expense of the senators. He also attempted sweeping economic reforms. Opposition between his followers and the Senate broke into riots and bloodshed, and he died in the violence.Top
Power of the Generals
Marius vs. Sulla (107-79 BC)
In 107 BC, Gaius Marius, a plebeian of the equestrian class, was elected consul and was designated as a general in the African war against the wishes of the Senate. He reorganized the army and successfully concluded several wars. Marius was elected to five consecutive consulships (though this was unconstitutional) and then to a sixth consulship in 100 BC.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a patrician leader, was elected consul in 88 BC. He was chosen by the Senate as general in the war in Asia Minor, although the Assembly had given this command to Marius. Sulla marched his legions into Rome itself to enforce his appointment and to stop reform legislation. This was the first time in history that a Roman army marched upon Rome. Sulla outlawed Marius and took up his command in Asia Minor.
In 86 BC Marius returned to Rome and outlawed Sulla. He was elected to his seventh consulship and led a five-day bloodbath against his opponents. Marius, however, died within the year.
Sulla returned to Italy with his army in 82 BC and had himself proclaimed dictator. A large number of Roman aristocrats were proscribed and their property confiscated. Sulla strengthened the power of the Senate, weakened the power of the tribunes, and stopped the grain dole. He passed a law that no army was to be stationed in or near Rome -- in effect, he banned standing armies in Italy -- and no general was to lead his army out of the provinces without permission of the Senate. Sulla retired and died in 79 BC.
The Triumvirate of Pompey, Crassus, & Caesar (77-44 BC)
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Pompey the Great, had been a general under Sulla and celebrated a triumph at the exceptionally young age of 24. He took command of the Roman legions in Spain and put down a revolt led by the followers of Marius. Pompey was elected consul in 70 BC along with Marcus Licinius Crassus. Returning to the army, Pompey conquered Palestine and Syria.
While Pompey was scoring military victories abroad, Crassus was building a political following at Rome. Crassus had supported Sulla, and made a fortune through the sale of property that Sulla had confiscated. He succeeded in putting down the slave revolt by Spartacus. Pompey, Crassus and Caesar shared power as a triumvirate in 60 BC, and alternated as consuls until 54 BC. Crassus was killed in battle in 53 BC.
Julius Caesar, a patrician, advanced his career through the government and the military. He became governor of Spain, Roman senator, then was elected consul in 59 BC. He was an extremely popular general; among his exploits were the conquest of Gaul and the alliance with the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. After crushing his rival Pompey, he was elected consul for the fifth time, and took the title of Dictator. In 44 BC Caesar was murdered by rivals who feared his power.
Revolt of Spartacus (73-71 B.C.)
The real Spartacus was a freeborn provincial from Thrace, who may have served as an auxiliary in the Roman army in Macedonia. He deserted the army, was outlawed, captured, sold into slavery, and trained at the gladiatorial school of Lentulus Batiatus in Capua.
In 73 BC Spartacus escaped with 70 or 80 gladiators, seizing the knives in the cook's shop and a wagon full of weapons. They camped on Mount Vesuvius and were joined by other rural slaves, plundering and pillaging the region, although Spartacus apparently tried to restrain them. His chief aides were gladiators from Gaul, named Crixus and Oenomaus.
Early Success
The Senate sent a praetor, Claudius Glaber, against the rebel slaves with about 3000 raw recruits hastily drafted from the region. They thought they had trapped the rebels on Vesuvius, but Spartacus led his men down the other side of the mountain using vines, fell on the rear of the soldiers, and routed them. Glaber returned in shame to Rome.
Spartacus then defeated two more cohorts. He wanted to escape from Italy by leading his people north across the Alps, but the Gauls and Germans, led by Crixus, wanted to stay and plunder. They passed the winter near Thurii in southern Italy. During the next year, Spartacus raised about 70,000 slaves, mostly from rural areas.
The Senate Takes Action
The Senate, alarmed, finally sent four legions against the rebels. At Picenum in central Italy Spartacus defeated the legions, then pushed north and defeated the proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul at Mutina. The Alps were now open to the rebels, but again the Gauls and Germans refused to go, so Spartacus returned to southern Italy, intending to escape by ship to Sicily with the help of Cilician pirates.
In the autumn of 72 BC, when Spartacus had about 120,000 followers, the Senate voted to put Marcus Licinius Crassus in charge of stopping the revolt. Crassus had been a praetor in 73 B.C. but currently held no office. He was the wealthiest man in Rome, a noble from an old plebeian family.
Crassus was given six new legions plus the four consular legions. When one of Crassus' legates attacked Spartacus with two legions, against orders, Spartacus roundly defeated them. Crassus decimated the most cowardly cohort, and then pursued Spartacus, who retreated to Rhegium in the toe of Italy. Spartacus tried to cross the straits into Sicily, but the Cilician pirates betrayed him.
Meanwhile, the Senate recalled Pompey's legions from Spain, and they began the journey overland; at the same time, General Lucullus landed in Brundisium in the heel of Italy with his legions from Macedonia. When Spartacus finally fought his way out of the toe of Italy, he could not escape to the east because of Lucullus.
The Defeat
In the spring of 71 BC, Spartacus started north. The slaves were finally wiped out by Crassus' legions in a major battle in southern Italy, near the headwaters of the Siler river. It is believed that Spartacus died in this battle. However, there were so many corpses that his body was never found. The historian Appian reports that 6000 slaves were taken prisoner by Crassus and crucified along the Appian Way from Capua to Rome.
As many as 5000 slaves escaped and fled northward, but they were captured by Pompey's army north of Rome as he was marching back from Spain; Pompey subsequently tried to claim the glory of victory from Crassus, although he had not actually participated in any of the battles. The Senate voted Pompey a triumph because of his victory in Spain, but they decreed an ovation (a far less splendid and prestigious parade) for Crassus because his victory had been merely over slaves.
Historical Characters in the Film:
(actors playing the roles)
Marcus Licinius Crassus (Lawrence Olivier)
Marcus Glaberus [real name was Claudius Glaber] (John Dall)
Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov)
Spartacus (Kirk Douglas)
Crixus (John Ireland)
Cilician pirates
Julius Caesar (John Gavin)
Lucullus
PompeyFictional Characters in the Film:
Antoninus (Tony Curtis)
Gracchus (Charles Laughton)
The two Gracchus brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, lived earlier. They were both reformers who were murdered.Helena (Nina Foch) and Claudia (Joanna Barnes)
Varinia (Jean Simmons)
Only Plutarch says Spartacus had a wife, a Thracian who was enslaved with him.Marcellus (Charles McGraw)
Draba (Woody Strode)
Tigranes Levantes (Herbert Lom)—though there once was a king of Armenia named Tigranes
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