Roman Slave Revolts

Slavery was an important economic factor, in the South, from colonial time through the early years of the United States to the end of the Civil War. The methods used by the slaveholder, who owned large scale plantations, in the south were harsh on the slave. Slaves were viewed as material properties used for to be used for economic gain. One large scale plantation owner named John R. Williams wrote to another slave , in a letter, "...Africans do seem to be made to be slaves. Their coarse manners and slow wits show that they need outlet guidance..."1* Masters would do what was necessary to keep the slave obedient and productive. This meant slaves that misbehaved would be physically punished, lose privileges, or maybe even sold, separating them from their families. For these reasons slave often didn 't misbehave, but tension that builds up will be released in often violent ways. This is the reason for frequent slave revolts. The these revolts were often led by a person or a group of people. They would gather the unhappy slaves and lead them to rebel.

Stonos Rebellion on the other hand

The Slave Wars were a series of three slave revolts that took place within the Roman Republic between 135 BC to 71 BC. Spartacus led the third of these slave revolts that occurred from 73 BC to 71 BC. This third slave revolt was sparked by an incident that occurred when a group of slave gladiators escaped from their school (Spartacus pg. 130). Although some may say that Roman slaves may have had it moderately easy, In fact politically and socially slaves were treated poorly.

Rebellion has always been the cornerstone of change. Wherever a rebellion has surfaced a change has soon followed, whether it is political change such as an overthrow of a government or just the overthrow of an oppressor such as a slaver. Some rebellions however are less justified than others; none more so than slave rebellions. Slavery in America was one of our biggest mistakes as a nation and was by far the most terrible time in African American history. However most slaves although poorly treated were given places to live and enough food to survive. They weren’t treated as people but as property and had about as many rights as a sack of potatoes. This led to most, if not all, slaves feeling a lot of animosity towards their owners. The more educated of slaves tried to find ways to get out of their servitude. When all peaceful means of getting out of their servitude had failed they went to flat out rebellion. Slave rebellions tended to be extremely violent and usually very rash. And when the rebellions were better planned they tended to be even more violent and disturbing. These rebellions however were completely unjustified and the slaves had no right to revolt the way they did.

In the 18th century of colonial America, slavery was an enormous impact on the Southern economy and continued to grow exponentially. It helped with a widespread growth of the southern, agricultural economy. In doing so, slaves were recognized as property and treated as such: through prejudice and misappropriation. Because of this practice of disrespect, tensions heightened and slave began to voice their aggravation that freedom was a must. The most violent and bold movements included slave rebellions. Slave rebellions, such as ones executed by Nat Turner, Gabriel Prosser, and Denmark Vesey, were effective in the nature of showing plantation owners and the United States, in general, that the abolition for slavery was a necessity through the myriad of occurrences. Nat Turner, Gabriel Prosser, and Denmark Vesey were all very different in their own way, but synonymous in the impact they produced in 18th and 19th century history.

According to Shaw in “Spartacus and The Slave Wars”, prisoners of war enslaved at the end of the Second Punic War rebelled in 198 B.C. This slave uprising in central Italy is the first reliable report of one, although it was surely not the first actual slave uprising. There were other slave uprisings in the 180s. These were small; however, there were 3 major slave revolts in Italy between 140 and 70 B.C. These 3 uprisings are called the Servile Wars, since the Latin for 'slave' is servus. However these 3 slave wars did not all end in victory. As a matter of fact, the 3 slave revolts failed, ending in murder of the leaders. The reason why the slaves were defeated in the end was basically due to the fact that there was no ultimate goal. They

Slave revolts normally happened outside of the plantation system and in large cities were the slaves were able to act more freely. It’s estimated there were at least 250 slave rebellions in America before slavery was abolished in 1865.Most tales of what happened during those rebellions could be bias seen as they were written by whites rather than by the slaves that started the revolt. Since African American slaves accounted for more than one-third of the population in the 18th century, slave rebellions were a large source of fear for white Americans in the south.

On Sunday, September 9, 1739, a group of rebels, led by a slave named Jemmy, had gathered near Stono River, South Carolina. They headed towards the Stono Bridge and broke into Hutchinson's store where they stole weapons and killed the two storekeepers, Robert Bathurst and Mr.Gibbs. The band of slaves continued on southward where they burned several houses and continued to kill more white colonists. As soon as the colonists found out and spread the news that there were rebel slaves on the loose, they decided to take action and give the band of slaves a surprise attack. Several of the rebels were shot right away and those slaves only proven to have been forced into the group were released. After the rebellion, along with new laws such as the Negro Act, the colonists sent out groups to look for slaves who have escaped and even hired Indians to aid them. Many of these slaves attempted to escape to Florida, a part of New Spain, where they were promised freedom by the Spanish. (Peter H. Wood, Page 63, 64 & Mark M. Smith, Page xiii, xiv) An exact cause for this revolt is not known, however several explanations are given by historians to answer to this. John K. Thornton says that the rebel slaves, with their military experience from Africa, along with the religious appeal of the Spanish, played a significant role in the rebellion. Emphasizing on the role of the Spanish, the Stono Rebellion of September 9, 1739 was greatly influenced by Spain’s economic rivalry with the English

With the arrival of Republican admiral Gnaeus Domitus Ahenobarbus, communications back to Italy were made very difficult because of the large fleet of ships that he brought with him which blockaded the triumvirate. These fleets of the Liberators did not wish to engage in a physical battle with the Triumvirate, but only to block their communications with their supply base back in Italy. With this swarming fleet they were able to outflank the Triumvirate and set up their own defensive positions forcing Norbanus and Saxa to retreat from their positions moving west giving the Liberators the upper hand at this spot. Brutus and Cassius were able to gain position on the Via Egnatia on each side with this fleet. To the north and south were impassable marshes and mountains. Brutus and Cassius then split their forces each manning a North and South defensive position of the Via Egnatia. After arriving to the scene, Marc Antony put his troops to the south while Octavian put his troops to the north, preparing for battle with the Liberators.

Varro thought he was facing an army like Roman legions which he defeated in the past and believed he would break the Carthaginian line, just what Hannibal wanted him to think. The line began to break to give Varro that he was correct but then once back far enough the light infantry moved in on both sides and heavy infantry wen to the front. Romans still pushed forward having so men killed in the front eventually being surrounded completely. Hannibal only lost a coupe thousands men and it was a devastating defeat for Rome and caused Italian city states be under the control of

One of the most shocking aspects of Boudicca’s rebellion to modern audiences is the degree of damage done to civilians , but atrocities against members of the dominant group have always been a feature of nativistic revolts . The Romans brought with them

During the Roman Republic, Ancient Rome was at its very beginnings and a civilization was just being created. Like any other civilization there were different levels of status between classes and several positions of power in which people could obtain. Subsequently, just as there were people of power and wealth, there were also people of little to no power and poverty. The Ancient Romans utilized the institution of slavery to help promote their civilization and became a major factor in the economy of the Roman Republic. In a way slaves helped shape Rome into what it is today. Without slavery in Ancient Rome, history could have been written differently when considering Rome as a powerful city and civilization.

The first and second Sicilian slave wars took place over a period of seven years in the late second and early first centuries B.C. In this time, the number of slave soldiers swelled to around a quarter of a million men and the slave society became so functional they began coining their own money (Diodorus; 84, 85, 11). In both cases, the Sicilian people’s greed, coupled with the abysmal treatment of their slaves and the Roman government’s complacency, provided the perfect storm for these events to occur. In each instance the rebels faced many difficulties in establishing a functional revolution. Namely, their inability to initially rally behind an individual leader and, later, their lack of military reserves, would prove too difficult an obstacle to overcome. In addition to the slaves, the free people of Sicily were also driven to a state of belligerency caused by the violent nature of the

So the Romans sent a second army. Atticus beat this one as well. While Rome was getting together a much larger army to send after Atticus, Atticus was gathering up runaway slaves and freeing other slaves from farms and villas. Atticus gathered together about 100,000 slaves in just a couple of years. The Romans knew that they had to defeat Atticus or they were doomed. They needed slaves to do much of the work in ancient Rome. They gathered together all the troop that they could from all over the empire and sent them after Atticus. Four years after he had escaped, Atticus and his army of free slaves were finally cornered and defeated by the Roman troop. The Romans sent a message to every slave in the empire by killing every slave who had joined

Also, why do the Roman and Florentine soldiers get rewarded at the end as well. Calvino states, “You will become dukes, since had you not slain the other two giants, my daughter would not be free today.” (83), apparently when you make fun of someone and treat them poorly, because you commit an act of violence, you get