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DAILY ROME
September 8th, 71 B.C.
All the News Romans Need to Know
Rome, Italy
Slavery revolt led by Spartacus
Slaves demand freedom and rebell against the free people
By Miso Jon
For the past thousands of years,
slavery has played an important role. It
was about two years ago when slaves
thought they should be treated better and
began a revolt. That revolt finally came to
an end today thanks to Crassus and
Pompey.
Before the revolt, many rich
people loved the whole idea of slavery,
mainly because of low paid labor.
However, when the revolt started, a
handful of patricians complained that
they have every right to control the slaves
and they should be killed for doing such a
thing. A week after the revolt, one highclassed elderly man reported, “I don’t
understand why they want to revolt
against us. We bought these slaves in the
market place with fair amount of money.
They’re just wasting time; my father once
told me that once you’re a slave, you’ll
always be a slave!”
The revolt lasted for two years,
until it came to an end today in 73 B.C.
Many people wondered why they were
doing this, while others wondered if this
is worth fighting for. Slaves from all over
the empire mustered up in Italy and
demanded freedom. About three days ago,
one slave stated, “I came from a
generation where all of my ancestors
were slaves. Many took advantage of me
because no one in my family stood up to
the future generations and believed that
freed slaves couldn’t move up a social
class. But I believe that it’s all a bluff. So
I’m proudly standing here today, standing
up for the future generations.”
The revolt was a massively
destructive event, especially because one
third of the populations were slaves. Led
by Spartacus, the large number of slaves
looted towns and terrorized Italy. These
slaves were hard to defeat because most
of them were well-trained warriors who
had been captured in the past Roman
wars. Their goal was to move north and
out of Roman territory to be free.
However, just when they thought they
met their goal, Crassus defeated them.
And Pompey’s force mopped up the
remaining rebels. Many slaves who
survived the revolt have been killed or
crucified to face slow and painful death.
Source: Handbook to life of Ancient Rome by Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins
The Romans: New Perspective by Kevin M . McGeough