Spartacus Leads Slave Revolt

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Spartacus Leads Slave Revolt

Spartacus Leads a Slave Revolt
“Spartacus Leads a Slave Revolt” is a written source composed by the Greek philosopher Plutarch and was written in around 75 A.C.E. This piece comes from Plutarch’s larger work call Parallel Lives. This selection is also called Life of Crassus which describes a great slave revolution that takes place in Roman controlled Italy. This revolt is lead by Spartacus who commands and army of gladiator slaves. Spartacus experiences great success for the majority of his campaign but ultimately falls to Crassus and the Roman army.
Because of the cruelty of a man named Lentulus Batiatus to his gladiator slaves they revolt and escape his control. This group of gladiators is led by a Thracian named Spartacus. Spartacus is great in spirit as well as physical strength. Even though he was not born noble or elite he was surprisingly intelligent and cultured. Plutarch remarks how Spartacus is much more Greek than Thracian which is not only a crack at Romans but also showing that he is telling this story to his Greek brethren. Throughout this piece Plutarch tells of battles that Spartacus and his growing army fight. With their success their confidence grows. Spartacus however showing great wisdom and sensibility often warns his army to disperse and got off to their homes. This is first shown after the defeat of the praetor Publius Varius and once again when Spartacus defeated Quintus and the quaestor Scrophas. Both times Spartacus’ solders used force to make him continue to lead them against the Romans. Against his will Spartacus lead his army in a final battle again Roman lead Crassus. Spartacus surrounded by Romans stood his ground and fought in till he was killed.
I tried to capture the main ideas about who Spartacus really was through his behaviors and actions. I did some summarization but only when it depicter what the author was trying to get across about his character and the time period they live in.

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