The name Spartacus is one familiar to most. He was the Thracian gladiator who rose up from slavery in 73 B.C. to defeat every Roman army sent to destroy himβΉbefore his defeat and crucifixion. Trained at the gladiatorial school, Spartacus escaped. Joined by approximately seventy followers, his army increased to allegedly 140,000 slaves.
Today, his struggle is widely perceived as the fight for freedom, but this hasnΒΉt always been the case; the ancient Romans were embarrassed by SpartacusΒΉs victories over them; the Greeks admired him; and others viewed his uprisings as the embodiment of cruelty.
In this fascinating and original work, Stothard retraces the journey taken by Spartacus and his army of rebels, taking us back to an ancient world which confronted similar issues to those we face todayβΉthe perils of religious belief; the comfort of organized religion; the virtues of public life. As he travels along the Spartacus road, Stothard breathes new life into the story of Spartacus and the greatest slave war in antiquity. He tells it, definitively, for our time.
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