In 72 BC Spartacus and his army marched north towards Gaul (the Roman term for a region covering France, the Low Countries and northern Italy). Leading his army of runaway slaves, which has been estimated to have reached 100,000 men, Spartacus defeated a series of Roman attacks using tactics which would now be called guerrilla warfare. Their insurrection came to be known as the Third Servile War, or the Gladiators’ War. Spartacus escaped in 73 BC and took refuge on nearby Mount Vesuvius, where large numbers of other escaped slaves joined him. He was sold into slavery and trained at the gladiatorial school in Capua, north of Naples. He is thought to have been born in Thrace (modern day Balkan region) and it has been suggested he was in the Roman army. Little is known of the early years of Spartacus.
He has become a modern-day inspirational figure. © Roman slave and gladiator, and leader of a famous slave revolt.
