Notes on Spartacus (IOT: BBC 4)

These are some notes I took while I was listening to the BBC 4 IOT: Spartacus. To download the program and to get further information click on the link IOT: Spartacus.

Background.

• In the first half of the I century B.C. Rome has the control of a vast area, from Spain to Turkey. In that area there was probably more than a million slaves at the time. Rome was, therefore, a slave state.
• Politically Rome was trying to run a vast empire on the kind of infrastructure of a little city state, where representatives are elected on a yearly basis by the Roman people. Leaders, both military and political (because there was not distinction), compete with each other to get commands over the provinces and to be appointed to wage wars. This way they become unbelievely rich.

Spartacus.

• He comes from Thrace, where he was captured along with his wife. Later on he was sold as a gladiator. Perhaps he was a mercenary in the Roman army, because of his skills to fight, but this assertion is not attested for sure.
• Slaves uprisings are not uncommon at those days. There were some more recorded in Sicily, for instance. Spartacus' rebellion was not the first slaves rebellion in Roman history.
• Accounts differ about Spartacus' breakout from the gladiatorial barracks or gladiatorial school located in Capua. To keep so many trained gladiator at the same spot was a high risk, we could say it was an explosion waiting to happen. Finally they got out from the gladiatorial barracks located in Capua. They took refuge in mont Vesuvius and hid out there. The Romans wanted to starve them out and blockaded the only path to come down. The slaves splitted into two groups. Crixus splitted from Spartacus.
• The group of slaves led by Spartacus had to keep on the move to get food and resources. They were scavengers. They moved from the northest point of Italy to the deepest South.
• According to one of the guests of the program the real problem of a slaves rebellion is not to break out from de gladiatorial camp, but what to do next.
• What were Spartacus' motivations? Did he want to go home to Thrace? Did he want to attack Rome? As we don't know Spartacus' mind, it is up to us to choose the answer we want to this dilemma. That's the choice we must make.
• According to one of the guests the fact that Spartacus did not escape on his own at the dead of night is significant. In her opinion it dismisses the idea of Spartacus just breaking out to escape to get home. 
• He won at least 9 major victories against Roman armies. One of the ways he won was by playing tricks on the Romans. Romans were bad at stage one of a conflict, but they were good at responses later.
• Later on, in the mind of Roman people, Spartacus became a second Hannibal, he might have destroyed Rome. But both of them, for different reasons, passed Rome by.
• He was defeated by Crassus' army. At the very end, he wanted to fight with Crassus hand to hand. He died fighting to the end. Crassus had eight legions to fight against Spartacus.
• Appian tells the survivors were crucified along the via Appia. The most probable reason was to make an example of them.

Legacy

• Spartacus comes back when there are slaves revolts, for instance in 1791 in what would become later Haiti.
• His figure also develops into an example of the oppressed fighting against the oppressor.