All language subtitles for Rome Rise and Fall of an Empire - S01E02 - Spartacus_track3_[und]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: After a decade
\h\hof barbarian terror,

the empire’s brilliant
\h\h\h\hGeneral Marius

grabs the reins of power,
\hturning Rome’s volunteer

\hmilitia into the greatest
fighting force the world has

ever known.

Now, at the center
\hof the republic,

a deadly revolt is brewing.

The bloody death of
\ha gladiator slave

is the ultimate spectator sport.

By the first century BC,
\hit’s no longer a game,

\h\h\hand the slaves
explode in rebellion

against their masters.

\h\hTheir leader history
remembers as Spartacus.

Rome’s powerful army and
\hphilosophy of conquest

have enriched the republic
\hin territory, treasure,

and slaves.

Captured on the battlefield
\h\h\hor in conquered towns,

the slaves become a commodity.

\h\h\hSlaves were people,
and the Romans knew it,

but they pretended that
\hslaves weren’t people,

that they worked tools with
limbs, and arms, and voices.

NARRATOR: Between the third
and the first centuries BC,

\h\h\hthe Roman Republic expands
from central and southern Italy

\hto encompass almost
all the Mediterranean.

And so the slave markets
\hfill, and eager buyers

pick over the merchandise.

If 30% of the population
of the Italian peninsula

was enslaved in the
\hfirst century BC,

that would be roughly equivalent
with the number of slaves

that there were in
the American South

on a per capita basis, where
\h\hit’s true that probably

\h35% of the population was
enslaved in, say, the 1850s.

\h\hSlaves could be
born into slavery.

\h\h\h\hThey could be sold into
slavery from foreign countries.

Slaves could be captured in war.

\h\h\h\hSo there was a great
variety of both of the ways

\hthat people got to
be slaves, and also

\ha great variety in the way
that people lived as slaves.

\hNARRATOR: First century
Roman landowner Columella

gives buying advice.

\hREADER: "My first warning is
not to appoint a farm manager

from the kind of slaves who
\hplease with their bodies.

Rather, you must select a man
\hwho from childhood has been

\hmade hard by fieldwork and who
has been proven by experience."

\h\hNARRATOR: Not all slaves
are destined for fieldwork.

\hThe strongest are
reserved for sport,

\h\hto train for the
arena as gladiators.

\h\hThese gladiators were
very much professionals.

\hThey had professional trainers
called lanistae, who would prod

them on, just the way
a football coach prods

\hon his men and his team to
perform at their very best.

\h\hThey’re rented out for
people to put into shows,

or they’re sold to the person
\hwho’s gonna put on the show.

\h\hThey tend to be
regarded in this way

\has being the lowest of the
low, people whose bodies are

at the disposal of others.

\h\hGladiators could be either
the top professional fighters

\h\hin the most expensive
entertainment of the time,

or they could sometimes be
condemned criminals forced

to fight.

Like championship boxers today,
they would train really hard

in a very dangerous sport,
\hand then they would only

fight a couple of times a year.

\hBecause they were, of
course, very expensive.

NARRATOR: Most of the gladiators
names will be lost to history,

but posterity will record the
feats of two of these men, one

\hnamed Crixus, and the other
Spartacus, a man born to lead.

Spartacus was a foreigner.

\h\hHe wasn’t a Roman, but he
had served in the Roman army.

But then something happened.

\h\h\hWe don’t know
whether he deserted.

That’s what some people say.

Or whether he was thrown out.

\hSome stories are that he then
became a very successful bandit

on the highways.

But eventually he was
\hcaptured and forced

to become a gladiator by
\hthe Roman authorities.

Whether against his will we
\hcan’t say, but most likely

he hated it.

NARRATOR: Second century
\h\hbiographer Plutarch.

\h\h\hREADER: "Spartacus not
only possessed great spirit

\h\hand bodily strength, but he
was more intelligent and nobler

than his fate."

NARRATOR: Whatever twist of fate
brought Spartacus to slavery,

\hit’s clear he will
not accept it idly.

\hAnd Crixus will
share his destiny.

Few gladiators lived to retire.

Most die a horrible,
\h\h\hviolent death,

whether in a small regional
\harena or a great coliseum.

\h\h\hSometimes the crowd is
asked to choose the weapons,

relishing the violence to come.

\h\hPeople were prepared to
witness other human beings

engaged in mortal combat
before their very eyes,

and this was tremendously
\h\h\h\hexciting for them.

By the late republic, already
\h\hpeople are becoming heroes

for becoming gladiators.

And they’re able to attain some
measure of status, at least

some measure of popularity
\h\h\h\h\hwith the masses,

\h\h\hbecause of their
abilities as fighters.

\hNARRATOR: By the
luck of the draw,

the gladiators learn who among
them will be the first to die.

\h\h\hTo add spice to the
fight, gladiators usually

\hare unmatched in terms of
weapons and fighting styles.

Whatever style they fight,
\h\htheir inadequate armor

can’t protect their lives.

\hThey had trained
for months, years,

so they could use their
\h\hparticular weapons.

Having to get so close
\hthat they could see

the spittle in their
\hopponent’s mouth,

or they hoped the
fear in his eyes.

And the smell of blood would
\h\hhave been overwhelming.

This was an excitement
\h\h\h\hto the crowd.

\h\h\h\h\h\hIt was a sign to the
gladiators that their very life

was at stake.

\hNARRATOR: It’s like a
terrible dance of death

for the pleasure of the crowd.

Yeah, yeah!

NARRATOR: But in 73 BC, at the
\hLudus, or gladiator school,

a group of trainees grows tired
of taking orders from the Roman

guards.

They decide that if
\hdeath awaits them,

\hit will not find
them in the arena.

\hAbused and angry,
they conspire to put

their lives and their
\htraining on the line

to change their fates.

\h\h\hAccording to second
century historian Appian,

Spartacus, joined by his
fellow gladiator Crixus,

masterminds the plan.

READER: "He persuaded about
\h\h\h70 of the enslaved men

\h\hto risk a break for freedom,
rather than to allow themselves

to be put on display for the
\hentertainment of others."

\hSpartacus became
a great gladiator,

but there was a fire
burning inside him,

a fire I guess resenting
the loss of his freedom,

fire desiring justice.

\hAnd so Spartacus organized
his fellow slave gladiators

\h\hto break out and
seek their freedom.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: The local
militia, unused to combat,

\hare wary of the
rebels they hunt.

They’ve seen them in the arena.

They know the kind of
\hmen they’re facing.

\h\h\hSecond century
biographer Plutarch.

READER: "The gladiators repelled
those who were coming out

of the city of Capua, and seized
from them many weapons that

were more suitable for warfare.

\hThey happily made the
exchange, throwing away

\h\h\h\h\htheir gladiatorial
armaments, which they viewed

as dishonorable and barbaric."

NARRATOR: As their leader,
\hSpartacus takes his men

from slavery to warfare, leaving
Roman corpses in their wake.

\hHaving defeated
the local militia,

\hSpartacus leads his slave
army from the city of Capua

to Mount Vesuvius, where they
\h\hseek refuge and make camp

at the top of the steep ridge.

Spartacus, along with his
\h\hco-conspirator Crixus,

have slipped the grasp
of Roman authorities.

\hNow they must prepare their
men for the inevitable battles

to come.

Spartacus had the personal
glow and the strength that

\hwould make people
want to follow him,

\heven on this dangerous escape
from the gladiator school jail.

Mount Vesuvius was
an active volcano.

It was a dangerous
place to hide out,

but Spartacus knew that he
and his escaped gladiators

could find a position on Mount
Vesuvius to organize and plan.

NARRATOR: But a messenger
\hcomes to warn Spartacus

\hthat the Romans are setting
up camp below to seal them in.

\h\hThe Senate has sent in
commander Claudius Glaber

\h\hto corner the rebels
and halt the rebellion.

\hHe managed to push Spartacus
and his sort of nascent group

of rebels up onto the
\h\hmountain into what

seemed like a tight spot.

And therefore Claudius
\h\h\h\hGlaber assumed

\hhe wasn’t going to have
any trouble crushing them

on Mount Vesuvius.

\hNARRATOR: Plutarch
chronicles the plan.

\hREADER: "Claudius
ordered his soldiers

to guard the one narrow and
\hdifficult access road that

led up the mountain.

All the other parts
\h\hof the mountain

were formed of steep precipices
and could not be traveled."

NARRATOR: Spartacus and the
\h\hescaped slaves’ only way

down is now blocked off.

The siege has begun.

\hIn 73 BC, Spartacus
and his comrade Crixus

\h\hrefuse to die in
the gladiator ring.

Together, they lead
\ha slave rebellion,

but now the outlaws are trapped
on southern Italy’s Mount

Vesuvius by Claudius,
\h\h\ha Roman officer.

High on the mountain,
Spartacus and his men

\hplot their brilliant
escape, as chronicled

\h\h\hin the second
century by Plutarch.

\hREADER: "The slaves cut off
the useful parts of the vines

and wove ladders out of them.

They were strong
and long enough,

so that when they were fastened
at the top of the cliffs,

\hthey reached down
as far as the level

plain at the foot
of the mountains.

One of the things that’s very
interesting about the early

phase of Spartacus’
\h\h\hrevolt is how

he seems to know the terrain
\h\hmuch better than anybody

else does.

Now, in part this can be because
herdsmen and other people who

\h\hknow the area around
Vesuvius are joining in.

They’re sympathetic.

\h\h\h\hThe slaves who joined
Spartacus and his group from

\h\h\h\hthe countryside were
probably, in the beginning,

mostly the herdsmen, who
were these slaves living

\h\hindependent, who already
had weapons and were in top

physical condition, who became
\h\hthen the soldiers for this

gladiator-led army.

NARRATOR: Spartacus and
his ever-growing legion

are able to rappel down
the cliff, landing just

beyond Claudius’ camp.

\h\hDown below, the Romans
underestimate the slaves’

resolve.

\h\h\hYou’ve got to realize that
the people who were chasing them

looked more like the Keystone
\hcops than Caesar’s legions.

\hThese are guys who are not
part of the regular military

establishment.

They’re being led
\hout by officers

\h\h\h\hwho aren’t very good
officers, who probably have

\h\h\h\hvery little knowledge
themselves of the countryside,

because it’s the area where
\h\hthey send their slaves.

NARRATOR: The Romans vastly
\h\houtnumber the renegades,

but the slaves’ bold plot is a
testament to their ingenuity,

desperation, and their hatred
\h\hof their Roman oppressors.

\h\h\h\h\hAnd to the ultimate
disgrace of the Roman army,

\h\hthese thousands of Roman
soldiers and their commander

\hare routed by this small band
of gladiators, who had attacked

\hthem from behind by climbing
down the cliff on their ropes

woven from vines.

\hNARRATOR: With this
success, the movement

grows, according to
\hhistorian Appian.

\h\h\hREADER: "Many fugitive
slaves and even some freemen

\h\h\h\h\hfrom the surrounding
countryside came to this place

to join Spartacus.

\hThey began to stage bandit
raids on nearby settlements.

\hSince Spartacus divided
the profits of his raiding

\h\hinto equal shares, he soon
attracted a very large number

of followers."

The one group that
Spartacus did not

accept into his rebel band were
deserters from the Roman army,

\hwhich may seem odd, and yet
it makes perfectly good sense.

\h\hThese people were precisely
the ones who had chickened out.

\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: Second
century authored Florus.

\h\h\hREADER: "The daily
arrival of new recruits

\hformed themselves
into a regular army.

They made rough shields out of
\hbranches covered with animal

\hhides, and swords and spears
by melting down and recasting

their shackles from
the slave barracks."

NARRATOR: What they cannot make,
Spartacus and his men scavenge

from the dead bodies.

The amazing thing about
\hthe Spartacus revolt

\h\his that the slaves who
are trained as gladiators

\h\hvery quickly retool
themselves as soldiers.

Which doesn’t mean they fight
\h\hin precisely the same way

that the Roman army does,
\h\hbut Spartacus himself,

\hsome sources say,
had been a soldier.

NARRATOR: Throughout 73 BC,
\hthe rebels continue south,

gaining in numbers and leaving
\h\hRoman soldiers in defeat.

\hThe Senate calls for another
magistrate, commander Publius

Varinius, to stop them.

A keen horseman, Varinius brings
his best stallion with him,

as well as the traditional
\h\hRoman symbol of power,

\hcalled the fasces, a bundle of
wooden rods surrounding an axe.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThis symbolized the
magistrate’s power to use force

to enforce order, sticks to beat
civilians or soldiers, the axe

for capital punishment.

\h\hThe axe was only
put into the fasces

\hwhen the commander
is outside of Rome.

\h\hBecause on military
campaign, the commander

has martial law power
\h\h\hover his troops.

\h\hNARRATOR: But symbols
seemed to be of little use

to Varinius against
\h\h\ha slave army.

\h\hSpartacus’ troops have
already bloodied his own,

killing his co-commander.

Varinius prepares his remaining
men for the battle to come.

Spartacus, familiar
with Roman strategy,

stays one step ahead, according
to the historian Sallust.

READER: "To avoid a surprise
\h\hattack while they raided

the countryside, the rebels
\h\hpropped up fresh corpses

at the gates of their camp,
\h\hso that the Romans would

\h\h\hbe led to believe that
guards had been stationed."

NARRATOR: With the
\hdecoys in place,

the renegades are free to attack
the Romans at will, catching

them completely by surprise.

\h\hSpartacus’ force
is really fearsome.

The officer corps, if you will,
are these superbly trained,

\h\h\h\h\hreally tough,
experienced gladiators.

So they want revenge.

\h\h\hThis army wants
freedom, but they also

want to show their Roman masters
that they are men, not just

tools.

NARRATOR: Through his
\hingenuity, Spartacus

\h\hscores another victory
over the arrogant Varinius

and takes prisoners
from the Roman army.

Second century historian Appian
records Rome’s humiliation.

\hREADER: "The Romans did not
yet consider this a real war,

\hbut rather raids and
predations of bandits.

\hBut these bandits
defeated the Romans.

\hSpartacus even captured
Varinius’ own force right

from under him.

This Roman commander was that
close to being taken prisoner

by a gladiator.

NARRATOR: The victory is all the
sweeter when Spartacus steals

the fasces.

the ultimate symbol
\h\hof Roman power.

When Spartacus surprises
\h\h\hVarinius in battle

and manages to capture not only
his horse out from under him

\h\h\hbut also his fasces,
this is a tremendous blow

\hto the credibility
of Varinius but also

to the power of the Roman state
symbolized in those fasces.

NARRATOR: Spartacus becomes
\ha figure of fame and fear,

\hand now commands 70,000
rebels, but tension builds

between the army’s popular slave
general and his friend Crixus.

\h\hSo Spartacus was showing the
Romans, I’m as good as a Roman.

I, Spartacus, I fought
\h\hin the Roman army.

\h\h\h\h\hI have the same
understanding of freedom.

I have the same understanding
of the value of life and death

for every man, slave or free.

NARRATOR: But Crixus
\h\hbecomes consumed

with his desire for revenge.

\hHe shows the captured
Roman soldiers no mercy,

writes fifth century
historian Herosius.

READER: "They staged
\hgladiatorial games

using prisoners they had taken.

Those who had once
been the spectacle

were now to be the spectators."

NARRATOR: The slaves grew more
\hviolent with their success.

\hCrixus spurs them on while
Spartacus pleads for order.

Their unity begins to falter.

\hThen Crixus makes
his move, unleashing

\h\hthe slaves’ fury against
defenseless Roman civilians.

\h\h\hHistorian Sallust
describes what happens.

READER: "The fugitive
\h\hslaves immediately

\h\hbegan to rape young
girls and married women,

killing those who
\htried to resist.

\hSpartacus himself was
powerless to stop them,

even though he repeatedly
\h\hbegged them to stop."

NARRATOR: Until now, the slaves
were unified against Rome.

Now they began to turn
\hagainst each other.

It’s the moment the Romans
\h\hhave been waiting for.

Southern Italy, 72 BC.

\hThe slave Spartacus
and his army of rebels

have managed to defeat and
humiliate the Roman troops

dispatched to stop them.

But now, as his comrade Crixus
\h\hexerts his own authority,

\h\hthe conflict is
coming from within.

At the slaves’ makeshift
\h\h\h\hcamp, Spartacus

makes plans to head
\h\hacross the Alps,

but Crixus has ideas of his own,
writes the historian Sallust.

READER: "Crixus and his people
\h\h\hwanted to march directly

against the enemy in order to
force an armed confrontation.

Spartacus, on the other hand,
\hadvised a different course."

\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: Crixus openly
challenges his friend’s ability

to lead.

\h\hOne of the things that’s
interesting about Spartacus’

\h\h\h\hrevolt is that he really
doesn’t seem to have had a plan.

In the area that he is, he’s got
now probably tens of thousands

of supporters, and he’s got
\hto move from area to area

around Italy to make sure
\hthat everybody can eat.

NARRATOR: Impatient, Crixus
\h\habandons the slave camp,

\h\htaking a faction of
rebel soldiers with him.

Spartacus is now left to
\hlead his people alone.

The two men strike different
\h\h\h\hpaths across Italy.

With the slave army now divided,
Rome prepares to strike hard.

Consuls Lucius Gellius Publicola
and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus

meet to plan their strategy.

The Romans simultaneously
\hthought of the slaves

as contemptuous subhumans,
\h\h\hbut also recognized

\hthat these slaves were
tremendously successful

in battle against themselves.

So in many ways, this made
it their worst nightmare,

that these slaves were defeating
them over and over again

on the battlefield.

\hNARRATOR: This untidy
rebellion now looks more

\h\hlike an actual war, and it
demands a serious battle plan.

\hEvery village Spartacus enters
could hold a trap or an ambush.

Or sometimes, according
\hto Sallust, a friend.

\h\h\hREADER: "Many
slaves in the towns

\h\h\hwere by nature
sympathetic allies,

and offered things
\hat their masters

had hidden away, or dragged
out their masters themselves

from their hiding places."

\hNARRATOR: These nobles are
given as prizes to the army,

to further humiliate the
republic’s aristocracy.

\h\h\hFrom his fellow
slaves, Spartacus also

\hgathers food, weapons, and
more soldiers for his cause.

But Rome’s efforts
\h\halso increase.

In the Garganus Mountains
\h\hof Italy’s east coast,

\h\hCrixus and his faction are
hunted down by Roman commander

Gellius’ troops.

The writer Plutarch records it.

READER: "Gellius made a
\hsudden surprise attack

\h\hon Crixus’ forces, who,
because of their arrogance,

had separated from Spartacus."

NARRATOR: The historian Appian.

READER: "Crixus was in
command of 30,000 men.

2/3 perished, including
\h\h\h\hCrixus himself."

\h\h\hNARRATOR: The Roman army
scores its first major victory

against the rebels, but
the mastermind is still

on the loose.

The Romans don’t linger
\h\hon the killing field

\hbefore heading out
to crush Spartacus.

Orchestrating a pincer movement,
Roman commanders Gellius

\h\h\h\hand Lentulus camp on
either side of the mountain

pass, waiting for their prey.

But their simple strategy
\h\h\hdoesn’t prepare them

for an army of desperate slaves.

\h\h\hOne of the most important
things about Spartacus’ revolt

was it broke out at a time when
the best Roman armies weren’t

in Italy.

\hThey were in Spain or
they were off in Turkey.

The troops who were sent
\hout against Spartacus

had all been recently raised.

NARRATOR: The historian Appian.

\hREADER: "Spartacus turned
on them one after the other

\hand defeated each
Roman army in turn.

\h\hThe Romans were forced to
flee from the field of battle

in great confusion and uproar."

The Roman officers
\h\hfaced a really

formidable military challenge.

And the Roman officer corps, not
being professionally trained,

was simply not up
to the challenge.

\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: Once again,
Spartacus has claimed victory

over the Roman army.

\h\h\h\hBut this time,
victory isn’t enough.

Spartacus demands
\hblood vengeance

for the death of Crixus.

He sacrifices 300
\hRoman prisoners.

He begins to develop into this
\hmassively anti-establishment

\h\hfigure, celebrating his
defeat of Roman magistrates,

executing Roman prisoners,
\hdestroying the property

of the rich in the countryside,
providing an alternative,

really, to the current regime.

And that’s where he
draws his strength.

\hNARRATOR: With this victory,
Spartacus’ army has the chance

to escape Italy for freedom.

But instead, the men choose to
\hremain in the empire they so

despise.

\h\hIt’s not entirely clear why
Spartacus’ forces turned back

from the north of Italy.

\h\hThey had enjoyed
success to the point

that they were sort
\hof drunk with it,

and they wanted to go on.

And rather than leave, go home,
settle back down to whatever

\h\h\hlife it was that they had
enjoyed before their captivity,

\h\hthey wanted to
continue to fight.

NARRATOR: His forces make their
way south to the city of Thuri,

where they set up a
base of operations.

In the third year of
the slave rebellion,

Rome finds itself helpless.

\hThe Senate calls upon
Marcus Licinius Crassus,

\h\ha wealthy nobleman who
loves glory almost as much

as he loves money.

He wanted to be at the
top of Roman society,

and that required winning
\h\h\hmilitary victories.

And so he was eager for the
chance to defeat Spartacus,

\hwhich he thought would
be easy, because slaves,

after all, couldn’t be
\hseriously dangerous.

NARRATOR: But Crassus, learning
from the failure of others,

will not underestimate his foe.

A strict disciplinarian,
he takes his assignments

\hseriously, for his glory
and for the good of Rome.

Spartacus’ growing army
\h\hof rebellious slaves

\hhave become well and
apparently unbeatable.

\h\h\h\hNow Marcus Licinius
Crassus has devoted himself

and his considerable forces
\h\h\hto their destruction.

\hBut Crassus finds the Roman
force undisciplined, cowardly,

and ready to retreat in battle.

Crassus will not stand for this.

After suffering a humiliating
\h\hdefeat against the rebels,

he takes drastic action.

He will teach his troops
the meaning of obedience

through the penalty
\h\h\hof decimation.

\h\h\hDecimation was a
terrifying punishment,

because men were just
arbitrarily taken out,

every 10th man.

Maybe you hadn’t run away.

Maybe the rest of the
\h\hunit had run away,

and you had stayed to fight.

But if there were
no witnesses, you

could be pulled out
\h\has the 10th man.

\h\hSo you were in absolute
terror standing in the line

\has to whether you’re
gonna be the one who’s

gonna be taken out.

And then your death is gonna be
horrible, because your friends

are gonna have to beat you to
\hdeath with sticks and clubs.

It’s not gonna be a quick,
easy, or honorable death.

You’re not going to be stabbed
or allowed to commit suicide.

You’re going to be disgraced,
\h\h\hand it takes a long time

to be beaten to death.

\hNARRATOR: Through
decimation, Crassus

\h\hmakes his troops fear him
more than they fear Spartacus,

their enemy.

\h\h\h\hIt was meant to shame the
men who were doing the beating,

\h\h\h\has well as the man who’s
killed, even though he might not

have been personally a coward.

\h\hNARRATOR: In the
name of discipline,

\h\h\has many as 4,000 men meet
their agonizing death this way.

But the brutality
\hmakes its point.

Crassus scores a victory
\h\h\hin his next battle

against the rebel army.

\hUnlike Spartacus’
earlier opponents,

Crassus was a really
experienced soldier.

He knew how to train an army.

He knew how to deploy an army.

He had the necessary experience.

\h\h\hAnd now for the
first time, Spartacus

\h\his confronted with an actual
Roman general, not a politician

\h\h\h\hwho’s leading out an
inexperienced group of men.

NARRATOR: Their forces engage.

A highly trained and able
Roman army against a band

of desperate, violent rebels.

With Crassus in the
\hfray, the balance

has started to tip
against Spartacus.

Pursued by Crassus’
\harmy, the renegade

slaves flee to the south,
but Spartacus has already

planned his next move.

Pirates control the
waters around Italy.

Like Spartacus, they
\h\hlive in defiance

of Roman law or any law.

\hThey answer only to gold,
and they traffic in slaves.

Spartacus sends messengers
\hto negotiate with them.

\hSpartacus tried everything
to get his men out of Italy

to safety.

Finally, in desperation, he
made a deal with the devil,

with the Cilician pirates.

\hCilicia is a part of
what is today Turkey.

And they were famous,
\hthese pirates were,

for attacking shipping.

But they were also famous
\h\has the biggest slavers

in the Mediterranean.

\hCilician pirates
made lots of money

by capturing and selling slaves.

\hSo Spartacus had
to know that when

he made a deal with
the Cilician pirates

\h\hto bring their ships to
Italy and evacuate his men,

\h\hthat there was a real danger
that the Cilician pirates would

simply sell his men
\hback into slavery.

\h\hHe probably had in mind
crossing over into Sicily

and occupying the island,
\h\halmost taking it over

\h\h\has a new territory, a new
state, where these rebels would

be able to face Rome
on their own terms.

\hNARRATOR: The slaves and
the pirates strike a deal.

\h\h\h\hThe Cilicians agree to
transport 2,000 of the slaves

to Messina in Sicily.

\hSpartacus hopes to
expand his rebellion

while eluding Crassus’ troops.

They haven’t a moment to lose
\h\has the legions of Crassus

\h\hclose in, prepared
to trap and slaughter

the slaves like feral beasts.

\h\hAhead of the Romans,
Spartacus and his horde

\h\harrive at the tip of
Italy and find no ships.

The pirates have betrayed them,
and the Romans are closing in.

\h\h\hNow Spartacus has to try
to fight his way out of Italy

\h\h\hagainst an army that’s
been restored to discipline

by Crassus, that’s
\hthere in force,

and that will finally
\h\hbe able to display

the tactics and the discipline
\h\hthat made a Roman army so

formidable.

NARRATOR: Crassus
\hplays it smart.

He knows the strength
of Spartacus’ forces.

He also knows time
\his on his side.

He’ll starve the rebels
out by walling them in,

writes Plutarch.

\h\h\hREADER: "This
great and difficult

\hwork he perfected in
a space of time short

beyond all expectation,
making a ditch from one

\h\hsea to the other, over the
neck of the land and above it,

\h\hbuilt a wonderful
high and strong wall."

\h\hCrassus is a fully
modern Roman general,

who among other things knew how
to use field fortifications.

\h\hAnd that’s what we see
him doing with Spartacus.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: The project, 35
miles long, up to 15 feet high,

is immense.

\h\h\hSecond century
biographer Plutarch.

READER: "When supplies
\h\h\hbegan to run out

and Spartacus wished to
move off the peninsula,

he recognized the impediment
\h\h\h\hformed by the wall."

NARRATOR: Spartacus
\his forced inland,

and yet every attempt to move
north is rebuffed by the wall.

After three years
\hon the rampage,

the rebel forces
have been caged.

But the Senate, which ordered
\hCrassus to bring a quick end

to the rebellion, is tired of
waiting for results, according

to historian Appian.

READER: "When the Romans learned
of Crassus’ siege tactics,

\h\h\h\hthey thought it
unworthy that this work

against the gladiators
should be prolonged."

\h\hNARRATOR: A messenger
arrives at Crassus’ camp,

carrying infuriating
\h\hnews from Rome.

The Senate has lost faith in
him and turned the task over

to his greatest rival.

The talented general Pompey the
Great is returning from Spain

\ha hero, having crushed
a bloody uprising there.

He is ordered to bring
\hthe slave rebellion

to its overdue conclusion.

\h\h\hPompey was probably
one of the best generals

that Rome ever had.

\h\h\hAnd Pompey was, like
Crassus, highly ambitious,

and had more of a military
\hreputation than Crassus.

\h\h\h\hHe had an enormous
knack for the theatrical.

He has a way of projecting his
image around the Roman world.

\h\h\hHe has a sense of PR that,
quite frankly, other politicians

of his time don’t have.

NARRATOR: Now he’s off to
vanquish Spartacus and rob

Crassus of glory.

\hBut not if Crassus
can beat him to it.

\hThey are two dogs
after the same fox.

71 BC.

\h\h\h\hAbandoned by the
pirates in lower Italy,

\hthe survivors of the
Spartacus slave revolt

\hfind themselves walled in
by General Crassus’ troops.

\h\hAnd now comes the
great General Pompey,

\ha new threat to Crassus’
honor and Spartacus’ life.

\h\h\hSpartacus is on the move
again, having broken the siege

\hthat Crassus had
so carefully set.

Appian chronicles his escape.

READER: "He staged sudden, small
scale attacks on his besiegers,

at selected points hitting
them suddenly and sharply.

He crucified a Roman prisoner
\h\has a visual demonstration

\hto his own men of what would
happen to them if they did not

win."

\h\h\hNARRATOR: As the
rebels move stealthily

through the countryside,
\hSpartacus and his army

find their peril has doubled, as
word comes that Pompey is also

in pursuit.

Pompey had already developed
\hsomething of a reputation

for being a clean up guy.

\hHe would show up at the end of
a lengthy, grueling, hard slog,

so to speak, and walk away with
the glory for having brought it

to a close.

NARRATOR: As Pompey
\h\h\hdraws closer,

Crassus becomes more frantic to
crush the rebellion before he

arrives.

Spartacus, hemmed in against
\h\h\hthe coming onslaught,

\h\h\hsends a messenger to
Crassus, offering a truce.

\h\h\h\h\hSpartacus remains
confident, waiting for word

back from Crassus.

He’s sure the Romans
are ready to listen,

though the rebels keep
\htheir swords sharp.

Spartacus tries to negotiate
\h\hwith the Roman leaders,

because Spartacus sees
himself as a free man.

That’s the way he
had started life.

\hAnd Spartacus ran his
army like a Roman army,

\has if he had the same honor
as his opponents, the Romans.

\h\hNARRATOR: But when
his messenger returns,

\h\hit’s clear that the Romans
don’t see Spartacus that way.

He is a slave and an enemy.

\h\h\h\hWith the negotiations a
failure, the day that Spartacus

has dreaded is here.

\hEven if he beats
Crassus in battle,

\h\h\h\h\hPompey will be
following right behind.

Spartacus can’t withdraw.

He can’t surrender.

\h\h\hSecond century
biographer Plutarch.

\hREADER: "Spartacus recognized
that his hand was being forced,

\h\h\hand arranged his whole
army into battle formation.

When his horse was brought to
him, Spartacus drew his sword

and killed the animal."

\h\h\h\hHe proclaimed that
should he win the battle,

\hhe wasn’t going to
need a whole horse.

\hHe would have thousands
of horses at his disposal.

Should he lose the battle, he
\halso wouldn’t need a horse.

\hThat is to say,
he had dismounted.

He had joined the foot
soldiers in his troop,

\hand he had gotten out there
to fight it out to the finish.

\hNARRATOR: Crassus and his army
meet Spartacus near Brundisium,

down the heel of Italy.

And so the battle begins.

Three years of revolt have led
up to this one decisive match

between Crassus and Spartacus,
\h\hthe largest confrontation

between two strong armies.

\h\hOne source reports that
he was wounded in the leg,

and was so crippled up that he
had to get down on his knees,

but he refused to quit fighting.

NARRATOR: According
to historian Appian.

READER: "The killing
was on such a scale

that it was not possible
\h\h\hto count the dead.

The body of Spartacus
\h\hwas never found."

\h\h\hSpartacus never
took the opportunity

to get away, which he might
well have done individually.

So Spartacus was
a man who showed

\hthat he had a sense of
honor, a sense of honor

\h\h\h\hat least as deep and
sincere as that of any Roman

who’d never been a slave.

NARRATOR: Crassus pursues
\h\hthe survivors, killing

all he can find, except 6,000,
whom he captures and crucifies

along the main road to Rome.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThey were
crucified, spread out

at about 30 to 40 feet each,
\hone by one, for 125 miles.

So you can imagine the stench
\h\h\hand the disgusting sight

\hthat anyone would have
had traveling that road.

If you were a Roman, this
stench would have smelled

like dead slaves to you.

\hYou were glad to
see these people,

\h\h\h\h\halbeit in their
disgusting, decaying form.

If you were a slave,
this was a message.

This was what awaited
\hyou if you rebelled

against the power of Rome.

NARRATOR: Crassus vanquishes
\hthe slave rebellion, those

some of the rebels
\hare lucky enough

\h\h\hto dodge the slaughter
until Pompey, true to form,

has the last laugh.

\hPompey managed to show up
just in time to chase down

the 5,000 or so gladiators
\h\hwho managed to escape

this combat, this big battle.

And he captured or killed
\h\h\hthe remaining ones.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: Then,
according to Plutarch,

\h\hPompey makes sure he
receives all the credit.

READER: "Pompey then
wrote to the Senate,

that although Crassus had
\hdefeated the gladiators

in battle, Pompey had
\hextinguished the war

to its very roots."

\h\h\hPompey’s career
is very interesting.

\h\hIn fact, Pompey at one point
was accused of being a vulture.

\h\hHe was feeding upon
other people’s roadkill.

NARRATOR: The Romans rushed to
put this ugly slave rebellion

behind them.

When it’s over, Pompey
\hreceives a triumph,

the highest Roman honor for his
work fighting enemies in Spain.

Crassus receives merely a minor
commendation for his efforts

against the common slaves
\h\hwho terrorized Italy.

Though the end of
Spartacus in 71 BC

\h\h\hmarks the end of the
slave rebellions in Rome,

slavery continues to bolster
the economy of the awakening

empire.

But the lessons of the revolt
\h\haren’t lost on the Romans.

\hSpartacus in the
Roman imagination

becomes almost the equivalent
\h\h\h\hof an Osama bin Laden.

\h\h\hHe’s a frightening
figure who’s out there.

He remains a threat, even
\hwhen you can’t see him.

And you’re afraid that there
\hwill always be another one

coming up behind him.

\h\hThe Romans realized
from this slave revolt

that they had to keep their
\h\h\harmy in tip top shape.

This might have been the
\htime when Romans first

began to think, maybe we need
\ha professional standing army

to keep us safe at home
as well as to protect us

against foreign invaders.

NARRATOR: But even
\ha mighty empire

can’t defend itself forever.

Long after it withers
\h\h\haway, the story

of a single man who stands
against it still endures.

\h\h\h\hSpartacus survives in
legend down to the present.

He’s been a culture hero for
\hpeople who are repressed,

for people who are downtrodden
\hright up to the modern age.

NARRATOR: But while
\hthe empire reigns,

it belongs to the powerful.