In 73 BC about 70 gladiators escaped from a training school in Capua, led by the Thracian Spartacus, and defeated the troops sent against them. Joined by tens of thousands of slaves and rural poor, their army ranged up and down Italy for two years and beat several Roman armies. Marcus Licinius Crassus eventually defeated it in 71 BC, and 6,000 captives were crucified along the Appian Way. Spartacus fell in the last battle and his body was never found. It was the largest slave uprising in Roman history and has inspired writers and filmmakers.
Before and after
- from September 87 BCE to March 86 BCESiege of Athens
- 86 BCEDeath of Sima Qian
- 83 BCEBirth of Mark Antony
- 78 BCEOrigins of Tabularium
- from 74 BCE to 72 BCEThe slave revolt of Spartacus
- from 73 BCE to 63 BCEThird Mithridatic War
- from 73 BCE to 71 BCEThird Servile War
- 15 October 70 BCEBirth of Virgil
- 13 January 69 BCEBirth of Cleopatra
More in Wars, politics & history
- 587 BCENebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and the First Temple
- from 499 BCE to 449 BCEGreco-Persian Wars
- from 431 BCE to 404 BCEPeloponnesian War
- from 218 BCE to 201 BCESecond Punic War
- 43 CERome invades Britain
- 17 January 395 CEThe Roman Empire is permanently divided
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 1st century BCE.