Spartacus - the man, the legend.Heard of the legend of Spartacus? If not, you may have skipped a few history lessons in school.
Most people know of the gladiator through many movies about his life. The most famous starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Stanley Kubrik. But there is much more to the legend than movies. His life story was as a revolutionary and ambassador to the people.
One of the most interesting facts about Bulgaria is the story this legend. He was a Roman slave during the times of the Roman empire in first century BC. Born in Thrace (now called Bulgaria), he joined the Romans and was captured and sold as a slave to a Gladiator trainer. He then lead 74 gladiators to freedom when they fled to Mount Vesuvius to set up camp. When Rome learnt of this they then sent 3,000 soldiers after the Gladiators in order to stop more from joining. During this time the runaway slaves and gladiator had recruited several thousand slaves who joined them to face the Roman army. He managed to defeat the Roman army by sending his men absailing down the side of a cliff in an impressive tactical move, to then ambush the Roman army and attack them from behind. The angry Roman leaders then sent an army of 6000 and this too was defeated. During the following winter Spartacus's army camped in Italy, with two more armies sent after them. Both were defeated.
Invincibile At Modena, an army of two leigions (10,000 men) was sent to destroy the Gladiators and slaves. The army was massacred, and Spartacus then seemed invincible. His luck had changed with the vicious weather patterns, and by the time he tried to move his army across the Alps many of them perished and were intercepted by the Roman army. The gladiator army was finally captured while making for the port of Brindisi. The gladiator and slave was a brilliant tactician on the battlefield, and a true warrior who led his men with victory. The reasons for the Roman order to come after the gladiators and slaves are still unknown, as Sparticus himself never posed any thread to the Romans. It would be however, unthinkable for the Romans to ally themselves with a band of slaves – The legend himself admitted this on more than one occasion. Like so many times before, he was correct in his thinking.
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