How Did Spartacus Become A Gladiator

An individual on average would fight about three times a year, and for the rest of the time travel with the troop. The troops swore an oath to their master, and traveled from city to city looking for work (Roman Gladiator). The social class of the Gladiators was rather ironic in itself. On one hand they were considered slaves, that's the lowest class in a social structure, but on the other hand, some gained popularity and were looked upon as great warriors and heroes. Some rose to celebrity status in a short time as in the movie when Maximus became a hero to the public eye, worthy of praise of greater importance than even the king himself. In the movie this was a direct result in the downfall of Commodus, but this isn't factual, as Maximus is a fictional character. It just demonstrates the influence the Gladiators had on the public eye, he was the ‘Rockstar of the Roman Empire'.

Gladiators were mostly unfree individuals either condemned criminals, prisoners of wars who had lost their citizenship rights, although, some of them were volunteers who were mostly freedmen or very low classes of freeborn men who chose to be a slave for monetary rewards or for the fame. Gladiators were brought for the purpose of gladiatorial combat and would endure branding, chains, flogging or death by the sword and subjected to a rigorous training, fed on a high-energy diet, and given expert medical attention. Gladiators were famously popular in ancient from for seven centuries, from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD fairly late in the Public occupied a prominent position in roman society, they would fight in massive

Most of the gladiators were criminals or prisoners of war that were forced to fight in the arena. Although they were considered slaves, they surprisingly had a better standard of living than most lower class Romans. Because they were financial investments, they had access to doctors and medicine, better food, and exercise. As the gladiator became more and more popular, he would attract greater crowds, making him more valuable, which led to getting him a better lifestyle. For this reason, some free citizens, aristocrats, and even emperors would join in hoping to increase their own wealth. Even slaves would train and fight hard because they could purchase their freedom once they accumulated enough wealth.

Maximus becomes enslaved in a foreign land and is forced to fight for his life as a gladiator. Maximus’ fame as a gladiator grew within Rome as his skill at combat became apparent. Commodus fears that Maximus will turn the Roman people against him and return rule of Rome to the Senate.

Slaves were at the bottom of the political chain. Many times political leaders and offices such as the senate would decide the fate of slaves and gladiators. Often times gladiators would be put against each other in fights. These fights were known as the gladiatorial games, and they were often organized by political and municipal leaders (Spartacus pg.43). Gladiators didn’t get to decide if they wanted to participate in these fights, but was decided by political leaders based on their social standing. Slaves who weren’t gladiators worked on the farms of individuals who owned land and were of a higher class. Much like the gladiators the agricultural slaves had no political standing and had little to no political representation. On the farms slaves had little to no freedoms, they were deployed in small groups to work, and were held in barracks over night (Spartacus pg. 33). These slaves also had a strict set of rules that they need to follow. These political

Spartacus: (c. 109–71 BC) One of the slave leaders who led a major revolt against the Roman empire, in the Third Servile War. Spartacus has become symbolic of

The book The Spartacus War by Barry Strauss is an in depth look at one of Roman history’s most legendary events, the gladiator revolt led by Spartacus. Spartacus has become a legend, creating a storyline that has inspired many movies and television shows, such as Stanley Kubrick’s epic Spartacus in 1960, starring the legendary Kirk Douglas. Spartacus has inspired a perfect mix of men over time with various backgrounds and beliefs, from Stalin and Marx, to Voltaire, and even to Ronald Reagan. How though, did Spartacus create a massive revolt of slaves that would create a massive problem for the mighty Rome? Strauss attempts to create a chronology of the Spartacus War using his vast knowledge of the Italian landscape, ancient documents, and

In the fifth century BCE, Sparta developed in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sparta was limited in size (population), but its military was famous for its toughness. Even with a small population of an army of about 8,000 men, they managed to defend Sparta from incoming attacks. Unfortunately, Spartan boys were forced to join and receive training from age 7. Like the battle of Thermopylae, Sparta was able to shield itself, but all the warriors died.

Spartacus, translating to “from the city of Sparta” in Latin, was a Roman gladiator who began as a “Thracian, born among pastoral nomadic people” according to Plutarch. This northern area of Greece that holds the title of Spartacus’ birth place was believed to be one of Rome’s earliest enemies. Historians suspect his birthdate to be around that of 109BC and know his date of death to be 71BC. This gives him a lifespan of around 37 years. Minimal information is documented prior to his rise to fame. One of the first pieces discovered about Spartacus timeline was in 78BC when he was incarcerated and forced to train as a gladiator. This enslavement was most likely due to either deserting his cause or committing a crime and sold as a slave as a form of punishment, although often the accusations that put people into slavery were unfair and biased due to aspects such as race and gender. Because of

Roman Gladiators had many other talents other than fighting too. They were very good at gathering attention from the media. They had to try and make big names for themselves in order to establish a fanbase. They also had to have great work ethic because usually the strongest man won so it was constant training. They had to set their entire lives around gladiator fighting and keep up with their normal lives, although most of them were in jail they still had lives even while living in a cell.

Sparta valued physical strength, military strength and emotional strength. It was very important for them to have a strong military. It was so important, that they would kill new born babies if they had any disabilities that would prevent them from being part of the military or helping it in any way. They would take the boy from a young age of 7 to start training. These boys were faced with many difficult tasks such as having to walk barefoot and deprivation to make them strong. They would even mention a story of a boy who followed the Spartan Code when he hide a fox under his shirt and did not show any sign of pain when the fox was eating his stomach. They strongly believed that you shouldn’t show any sign of feeling specially not pain or weakness. They also believed that you shouldn’t be in love with the person who you marry. You are just married to help Sparta produce more boys to serve the military or girls to train and bring more healthy baby boys to Sparta. If you were in love you had to hide it, since

A hero of his time, Spartacus led one of the greatest slave rebellions in Roman history. The rebellion ended on the day many believe Spartacus died. He is believed to have died in battle with Crassus in 71 BC. This was shortly before Crassus joined the First Triumvirate. The slave revolt happened after Spartacus and the other slaves fought or left their master for the way they were being treated or forced to do things they did not want to. The beginning of the third servile war with Spartacus and his fellow gladiator slave fighting their master at the gladiator training school and escaping to mount Vesuvius, where they met up with other escaping slaves.

First Section – Spartacus has many conflicts with authority and individual freedom. Spartacus fought for the freedom of salves in early ages of Rome. At the

By birth a Thracian, Spartacus was slaved by the Roman Army then trained as a gladiator. He served in an Roman auxiliary unit for some short time, vacated his duties and became an insurgent against the Romans. Upon his escape, he became the leader of 90,000 men in a revolt against Rome. The war started in 73 B.C., when Spartacus aided those in the Gladiator school to escape by utilizing kitchen utensils as weapons. The gladiators then took refuge on the side of Mount Vesuvius (which is near modern day Naples) led by Spartacus and his aides Crixus, Castus, Gannicus and

Gladiator is in the manner that the main characters became slaves/gladiators and the aspect of how “freedom” is earned. Maximus on the other hand, was a Roman General that refused to serve for the Roman new emperor, Commodus, who had murdered his father, Marcus Aurelius, in order to obtain control of the Roman Empire. The biggest difference between Gladiator and Spartacus is the manner in which their respective freedom is earned. Gladiators freedom is earned thru defeating Commodus, who sentences Maximus to be executed. The story begins after he escapes his captors and rides off to his farm. This is after he discovers that his family has been murdered by said King/Emperor Commodus. Maximus collapses from exhaustion and is then picked up by slave traders and sold to Proximo, thus leading to his voyage of becoming a Gladiator and his fight against the King. Another difference is that Spartacus is pressured into fighting the best gladiator of the Roman army, upon the conclusion of his training however, he is defeated. Afterward he becomes leader of the Army of Slaves and in an effort to gain the slaves freedom back, he leads them to battle. After being captured, Spartacus ultimately has to fight it out with a slave who is also captured and the winner will be crucified. In Gladiator, Gladiators from all over the Roman