Spartacus: The Myth and the Man-M.J. Trow

Today, the Western world's knowledge of the gladiator-slave Spartacus \ncomes from the Kirk Douglas epic released in 1960. But did Spartacus \nreally come close to changing the structure of the Roman world? Why and \nhow did he come to be claimed as a proletariat hero by Marxists? Who was\n the real Spartacus? This vivid and exciting book traces the story of \nSpartacus through his slave hood in Rome and training as a gladiator, to\n the breakout which began when gladiators hacked at their guards with \nchoppers and took to the hills. Initially the affair was regarded as a \nminor breakout but by the time the Roman praetor found them, Spartacus's\n rising had grown into an army of 3,000 men. With nothing to lose but \ntheir freedom, they slaughtered several of the Roman forces sent to \ncapture them. It was not until the Senate sent Pompey, the 'young \nbutcher' that Spartacus and his army were defeated, the survivors either\n crucified or returned to slavery. Pompey celebrated with s