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SPARTACUS , See also:leader in the Slave or Gladiatorial See also:War against See also:Rome (73—71 B.C.), a Thracian by See also:birth. He served in the See also:Roman See also:army, but seems to have deserted, for we are told that he was taken prisoner and sold as a slave. Destined for the See also:arena, he, with a See also:band of his See also:fellow-See also:gladiators, See also:broke out of a training school at See also:Capua and took See also:refuge on Mt See also:Vesuvius (73). Here he maintained himself as a See also:captain of brigands, his lieutenants being two Celts named Crixus and See also:Oenomaus, who like himself had been gladiators. A hastily collected force of 3000 men under C. See also:Claudius Pulcher endeavoured to starve out the rebels, but the latter clambered down the precipices and put the See also:Romans to See also:flight. Swarms of See also:hardy and desperate men now joined the rebels, and when the See also:praetor Publius Varinius took the See also: See also:Nola and Nuceria in Campania, See also:Thurii and See also:Metapontum in Lucania were sacked. The See also:senate at last despatched both consuls against the rebels (72). The See also:German slaves under Crixus were defeated at Mt Garganus in See also:Apulia by the praetor Q. Arrius. But Spartacus overthrew both consuls, one after the other, and then pressed towards the See also:Alps. Gains See also:Cassius, See also:governor of Cisalpine See also:Gaul, and the praetor Gnaeus See also:Manlius, who attempted to stop him, were defeated at Mutina. Freedom was within sight, but with fatal infatuation the slaves refused to abandon Italy. Spartacus led them against Rome, but their See also:hearts seem to have failed them; and instead of attacking the See also:capital, he passed on again to Lucania. The conduct of the war was now entrusted to the praetor See also:Marcus See also:Licinius See also:Crassus. In the next See also:battle Spartacus was worsted and retreated towards the straits of See also:Messina, intending to See also:cross into See also:Sicily, where he would have been welcomed by fresh hordes of slaves; but the pirates who had agreed to transport his army proved faithless. Crassus endeavoured to shut in the rebels by carrying a ditch and rampart right across the See also:peninsula, but Spartacus forced the lines, and once more Italy See also:lay at his feet. Disunion, however, was at See also:work in the See also:rebel See also:camp. The Gauls and Germans, who had withdrawn from the See also:main See also:body, were attacked and destroyed. Spartacus now took up a strong position in the mountainous country of Petelia (near Strongoli in See also:Calabria) and inflicted a severe defeat on the vanguard of the pursuing army. But his men refused to See also:retreat farther, and in a pitched battle which followed soon afterwards the rebel army was annihilated. Spartacus, who had stabbed his See also:horse before the battle, See also:fell See also:sword in See also:hand. A body of the rebels which had escaped from the field was met and cut to pieces at the See also:foot of the Alps by See also:Pompey (the See also:Great), who was returning from See also:Spain. Pompey claimed the See also:credit of See also:finishing the war, and received the See also:honour of a See also:triumph, while only a See also:simple See also:ovation was decreed to Crassus. Spartacus was a capable and energetic leader; he did his best to check the excesses of the lawless bands which he commanded, and treated his prisoners with humanity. His See also:character has been misrepresented by Roman writers, whom his name inspired with terror down to the times of the See also:empire. The See also:story has to be pieced together from the vague and some-what discrepant accounts of See also:Plutarch (Crassus, 8–11; Pompey, 21), See also:Appian (See also:Bell. civ. i. 116–120), See also:Florus, (ii. 8), See also:Livy (Epic. 95–97), and the fragments of the Histories of See also:Sallust, whose See also:account seems to have been full and graphic. See also:House; he puts every question and declares the determination thereon. As " mouth of the House " he communicates its resolutions to others, conveys its thanks, and expresses its censure, its reprimands or its admonitions. He issues warrants for executing the orders of the House, as the See also:commitment of offenders, the issue of writs, the attendance of witnesses or prisoners in custody, &c. The See also:symbol of his authority is the See also:mace, which is See also:borne before him by the See also:serjeant-at-arms when he enters or leaves the House; it reposes on the table when he is in the See also:chair, and it accompanies him on all See also:state occasions. The See also:Speaker takes See also:precedence of all commoners in the See also:kingdom both by See also:ancient See also:custom and by legislative See also:declaration (I Will. & See also:Mary c. 21). His See also:salary is 5000 a See also:year. It is usual to create a retiring Speaker a peer of the See also:realm, generally with the See also:rank of See also:viscount. The See also:office is of great antiquity, and in the various conflicts between the See also:Commons and the See also:Crown was one of considerable difficulty, especially when, as See also:mouthpiece of the House, he had to read petitions or addresses or deliver in the presence of the See also:sovereign speeches on their behalf. The first to whom the See also:title was definitely given was See also:Sir See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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