Slavery was incredibly intertwined within the structures of the Roman Republic(509-27 B.C.E.). Everything from household and domestic matters to entertainment, military, construction, manufacturing, mining, education and agriculture relied, in some part, on the use of slave labor. Slaves were often those captured during war and in the conquest of their territories due to Roman expansion. Other methods of obtaining slaves included pirates, as well as simply slaves giving birth to children who would, in turn, become slaves themselves.

One could be released from slavery, either through the purchasing of ones own freedom or by being released from their owner, however these acts were incredibly uncommon and rare. The notion of such a possibility acted more to manipulate slaves into being obedient to their masters, so as to not spoil a slaves chance of freedom, however unlikely it may be. However this would not be enough to keep slaves from wanting more than they have in life and for those whom had little or nothing the risk of disobedience, and the possible freedom that may be obtained by it, may have seemed well worth while.

This seemed to be the attitude of those slaves whom participated in a series of slave revolts within the Roman Republic known as the Servile Wars(135-70 B.C.E.). The First Servile War took place somewhere between 141/136-132 B.C.E. In Sicily, led by the supposedly magical and prophetic Eunus or “King Antiochus”.i These prophecies were even seen as a joke by their former master and would have Eunus perform these predictions in front of guests, purely for entertainment purposes. However, regardless of whether Eunus actually held such powers was irrelevant to the slaves whom would become inspired to revolt by Eunus’s prophecy of their success and as such, would crown them their new king.

After the Second Punic War( 218-201 B.C.E.) much of Sicily’s military capacity was weakened, so that by the time of the first Servile War much of the defenses of the Roman army were in such a state as to allow Eunus and their army to easily take control of their local territory and launch raids into the south east of Sicily. A governmental body would be set up, including a court and generals, as well as even minting their own currency. However, this short lived attempt at an ex-slave government would be crushed by forces sent from Rome to quell their rebellion. Eunus would be captured and sent to a prison in Morgantina where they would meet their end.

The Second Servile War ( 104-101 B.C.E.) took place due to the Romans need for more soldiers, fermented by fears of invasion by the Cimbric.ii As such C. Marius requested assistance from Nicomedes, king of Bithynia. However, Nicomedes would note that such a task was essentially impossible as much of its population had been enslaved by Roman tax collectors and as such, the Roman court decreed that no citizen living within an allied state shall be held in slavery. This decree led to the release of about 800 slaves. However, word of this release spread across Sicily, making many slaves believe that slavery on the island was being abolished over all. Due to this reaction, the Roman governor of Sicily, P. Licinius Nerva, was forced to send many of these slaves back to their masters, whom had responded harshly to these notions. However, those slaves that had briefly tasted freedom refused to give it up and chose to rebel.

After an initial failed revolt led by an individual named Varius, around 2,000 slaves within the city of Heracleia rose up, defeating M. Titinius in battle, whom was dispatched to crush them, resulting in the seizing of a large number of weapons, bolstering their burgeoning new army. This slave army would find itself similarly led by a mystic king, this time an individual named Salvius or “Tryphon”. Salvius’ army would quickly grow to around 20,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, being tested during a battle at Morgantina against the governors force of 10,000 troops, successfully defending themselves and the city, routing the Roman troops. Near by in the city of Lilybaeum, another revolt broke out, led by yet another self proclaimed mystic king named Athenion, raising an army of around 10,000 slaves. Sicily was now effectively under slave control.

Placing the location of Triocala as their capital, Salvius would have Athenion imprisoned, taking control of their troops in order to bolster their own. The Romans meanwhile desired to retake Sicily, choosing to replace the governor Licinius Nerva with L. Licinius Lucullus, an individual whom had previous success with crushing a slave rebellion in Capua. Faced by a Roman force of 17,000 troops, Salvius would surprisingly release Athenion, placing them in charge of their army. They would meet Lucullus in battle, however even with a much larger force they were unable to defeat the Roman forces, resulting in, according to Diodorus, the death of about 20,000 rebels. Lucullus would follow this success up by besieging Triocala, but would ultimately fail. For this failure, Lucullus would find them self replaced as governor by Gaius Servilius whom would prove to be just as ineffective at culling the rebellion. It is during this time that Athenion, after the death of Salvius for currently unknown reasons, would take control of the rebel forces.

By the year 101 B.C.E. The Romans would decide to send one of the two consular of that year, M. Aquilius, to once and for all crush the slave rebellion in Sicily. It is unknown exactly what the size of their troops were, but what is known is that Aquilius would prove to be successful where others had failed, finally defeating the rebellion and killing Athenion by cutting off their supply lines and effectively starving them into forced battle. Some survivors of the battle would flee to various parts of the island, but would ultimately be hunted down and crushed.

The Third Servile War (73-71 B.C.E.) is by far the most well known of the three. This period of Roman history is an incredibly tumultuous time, a prelude to what would become the Roman Civil War and eventually, the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. Before the outbreak of the Third Servile War much of the Roman Republics forces were tied up across various parts of their territories. In Spain, former Preator Quintus Sertorius set up what they claimed to be the legitimate Roman government in opposition to that of the Roman Republic under Lucius Sulla. Quintus Metellus Pius, whom had been sent to crush Sertorius, was given the assistance of Pompey, a young individual with experience taking territory for Rome in Italy, Sicily and in Africa. In the east, the death of the king of Bithynia (74 B.C.E.) saw an attempt at annexation by Rome, which caused Mithridates VI , king of Pontus, to attack in response.iii

With conflict on the rise and consistent troubles within the Roman government, the people needed to be distracted with bread and circuses. One popular form of distraction was the gladiator fights. Gladiators were generally slaves whom fought each other, and sometimes large predators captured by Rome, in various arenas throughout the territories. Spartacus, theorized to be a military deserter, was enslaved with the purpose of being trained as a gladiator. After escaping from their training school in Capua, along with a handful of about 78 other gladiators, they would launch one of the most successful slave revolts in Roman history.

After escaping to Mt. Vesuvius, Spartacus would place under secondary command two fellow gladiators named Crixus and Oenomaus. As word of the rebellion spread, other slaves would make their way to join the rebel slave army. In response to this sudden uprising, Rome quickly assembled a force of about 3,000 under the command of Claudius Pulcher/Glaber.iv However, Spartacus, in a clever maneuver, had their forces climb down nearby cliffs, allowing them to ambush the Romans from behind, defeating them and looting their supplies.v In response, Publius Varinius would be sent to launch a second attempt at crushing the rebellion, but after several engagements would ultimately fail and even risk being captured themselves. Spartacus’ forces now effectively controlled the southern regions of Italy, sacking and raiding the cities of Nola and Nuceria in Campania, along with the cities of Thurii and Metapontum in Lucania. By this time, the rebel army had grown to number around 70,000.

By this point, the Roman senate had recognized the serious threat of the growing rebellion and dispatched its two Consul’s, the heads of the government and military, to crush them. Still, Spartacus would prove to be an effective leader after engaging with the Consul Lentulus, managing to defeat them in battle, allowing them to press on northward into Cisalpine Gaul, defeating the local governor Gaius Cassius. With access to the Alps, escape was easily within reach of Spartacus and yet, for one reason or another, they choose to turn around and march south back into Italy. Some suggest this may have been done with the intention of making their way into Sicily, in order to ferment the region into rebellion, being the location of the two previous Servile Wars, as well as a number of other smaller rebellions. Others suggest it may have simply been a matter of their army wanting to stay and plunder in Italy. Whatever the reason, Spartacus and their army would make their way back south.

The Roman Senate now chose to entrust the fight against the rebels to the Praetor Marcus Licinius Crassus, forming an army of the remaining Roman forces and their own soldiers, personally paid for. Initially one of his subordinates, Mummius, would ignore their orders and attack Spartacus’ out of their own will, loosing the battle. This would cause Crassus to initiate a decimation, selecting 500 of Mummuis’ forces and having one in every ten of them executed by their fellow soldiers. With Spartacus’ forces located within the southern end of Italy, Crassus would have a massive wall constructed that stretched across the entire southern end of the Italian peninsula. Cut off from supplies Spartacus and their forces would, during the cover of night and under a snow storm, attack a section of the wall, overwhelming it and allowing them to pass through. Making their way north, a section of the rebels that had broken off from the main body would be attacked and defeated by the now pursuing Crassus. Spartacus and the rebels themselves, after defeating a section of pursuing Roman forces, would decide to finally make a stand and fight Crassus. This would prove to be a fatal decision, as it would be during this battle that Spartacus would meet their end, along with most of the rebels themselves. Those that had managed to escape were quickly hunted down and killed by Pompey whom Crassus, wanting to end the war with Spartacus as quickly as possible, had requested assistance from, as well as Lucius Licinius Lucullus.

There are a number of lessons that can be drawn from the events of the Servile Wars. Firstly, the slaves would not have rebelled had there not existed some sort of rationale or reasoning to do so. The first and second Servile Wars were both led by supposed prophets and mystics, people whom gave visions of freedom and success that would inspire the slaves themselves to take up arms and fight. Ironically being the most well known of the three, the exact motivations for the revolt of Spartacus isn’t known, however word of the rebellion itself did spread across Italy, inspiring slaves to take it upon themselves to escape and join their forces. Without some sort of vision or direction in which one wishes to take actions towards, it can be difficult to even comprehend challenging something as seemly massive and invulnerable as the Roman Empire.

However, this vision can be utterly meaningless without grounding it within material conditions. The Roman Empire controlled, for its time, one of the most advanced and well trained armies in the world. So it is no surprise that the successes of the Servile Wars were due in part to their essential guerrilla nature. Whether intentional or not, both the first and third Servile Wars owe part of its success to the initial weakness of the Roman military. In the former case, Sicily had been weakened by the previous Punic Wars, whereas the latter saw Romes forces spread abroad, making Italy itself vulnerable. Weapons and supplies were generally gained through the defeat of their enemies in battle or through the raiding of nearby towns and villages, as the guerrilla nature of the slave armies didn’t allow them the time to raise their own. The revolt under Spartacus was initially armed with the knives and roasting spits found within the training grounds at Capua, making due with whatever weapons were available.

When it came to actual battle, the successful moments we see are when the rebels were able to engage enemy forces that were weaker, smaller and generally underestimated the rebels capacity to fight. Not to mention the deployment of clever tactics, such as the rebels of Spartacus scaling the down the cliff side, allowing them to ambush and defeat their attackers from behind. After being walled in the south of Italy, Spartacus’ forces chose to not only avoid a full scale battle with the Romans, but choose to, at night, climb and attack a specific point in the wall, making what may have been a smaller force when compared to the massive Roman presence, irrelevant in the moment, overwhelming the position and allowing them to pass through.

In learning from past events such as the Servile Wars, it is important to acknowledge not just what was successful, but to also study their failures. If there is one consistent point of failure among the rebels of all three Servile Wars, it would be that of hubris. The centralizing attempts of both Eunus and Salvius, I contend, were fatal errors when confronting a force as massive as the Roman Army. That is not to say they and their fellow rebels did not put up a fight, but when faced by overwhelming enemy forces, found it difficult to survive. This is partly why, in my opinion, the revolt of Spartacus was as successful as it was. Over the course of their campaign, Spartacus’ forces generally avoided staying in a singular location for too long, allowing them to avoid conflict and keep the Roman Army off their backs. However, in deciding to return south into Italy, both the rebels and Spartacus gave into their own hubris. Supposedly, while making their stand against Crassus, Spartacus went so far as to kill their own horse as if they succeeded they would be able to choose a horse from among the fallen Romans or they would perish in battle. In the end this over confidence would be their down fall.

The concept of a revolution today can seem entirely too distant and impossible. When faced with something as massive and seemingly all encompassing as the United States, it can be difficult to even imagine confronting them, under any conditions. However it is my contention that the slave revolts of the Servile Wars teach us that it is not, at least initially, about immediate open confrontation with our oppressors. Such a confrontation would be tantamount to suicide. Rather, these rebel slaves provide the lesson that when properly employed, guerrilla warfare can prove to be an incredibly viable strategy, even when faced with something as monumental as the Roman Empire or the United States. It is important to recognize the strength of our oppressors and ourselves. We cannot allow it to intimidate us or push us to become over confident, but rather should be understood so that we may properly organize ourselves and our communities to be able to struggle and fight back, on our own terms.