SPARTACUS
______Slavery was part of the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire. Slaves did all manner of work, from crafts to back-breaking hard labor. Conquered people in the many Roman wars were routinely sold into slavery and even in peacetime there was a thriving slave market. Contrary to what Jesse Jackson would have you believe, the United States of America did not invent slavery.
______Being a slave bites no matter what your race, creed, religion, or national origin and in 73 B.C. one such slave, Spartacus, led other slaves in the gladiator school where they were being prepared for short-term careers as entertainers in the arena. Seizing gladiator weapons, they took the town of Capua. Later, gathering with them other runaway slaves, they moved to the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, where they defeated a small Roman force sent out to squash the rebellion.
______The Romans continued to underestimate Spartacus, who must have had some practical experience as a soldier as well as a natural gift for leadership. He defeated the Roman legions sent after him in a series of battles up and down the Italian penninsula.
______Licinius Crassus, an ambitious politician, was appointed general by the Senate and told to capture or kill Spartacus. After a long and hard-fought campaign that included an attempt by Spartacus to invade Sicily Crassus destroyed the last of the slave army in 71 B.C. According to one account, Spartacus attempted to hack his way to where Crassus stood on the battlefield and instead got himself hacked up.
______Spartacus' revolt, although it ended in failure, became legendary and inspired later generations to gain their freedom, whether they were enslaved by Romans, Persians, Goths, Franks, Arabs, Americans (in less enlightened times), Nazis, or Soviets. Freedom to be a human being and not an economic unit is a fundamental right that Spartacus managed to fight successfully for, at least temporarily.
WHAT'S THE MOST EXPENSIVE AIRCRAFT EVER USED IN COMBAT?
