Site of ‘Clash’ Between Spartacus and Roman Army Discovered in Italy

ARTnews ^ | July 12, 2024 | Francesca Aton

[nickcarraway]

A stone wall built by the Roman army as a defense against slave revolt leader and gladiator Spartacus and his men has been identified by archaeologists in an Italian forest.

Local environmentalists who found the wall alerted archaeologists, who have now been able to provide greater insight using advanced radar and laser scanning methods, as well as soil sample analysis.

The ditch and mound (or fossa and agger, respectively) was a common Roman defense system. This stone wall and earthwork, for instance, stretches nearly two miles through the Dossone della Melia forest in Italy’s Calabria region. A deep ditch once ran parallel to the wall.

“The wall is a sort of barrier due to its topographic location and other factors, like the absence of gates,” Andrea Maria Gennaro, the archaeology superintendent with Italy’s Ministry of Culture who worked on the excavation, told Live Science. “It divides the entire large flat area in two parts.”

Since the discovery, researchers have determined that the wall and ditches were constructed by Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus in 71 BCE in an effort to contain Spartacus and his army. These efforts have been documented in several volumes, among them, The Life of Crassus by Greek philosopher Plutarch. Experts believe that Spartacus would have attacked the wall in order to break through Crassus’s trap.

“After trying to go to Sicily, Spartacus was not able to move along the coastal roads because of the presence of Romans, so the only way to go [to] the peninsula and escape was crossing Aspromonte,” a mountain in Italy, Gennaro explains.

Along with some 70 enslaved gladiators, Spartacus escaped from a school in Capua and engaged in a series of slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known by historians as the Third Servile War. Though ultimately suppressed, Spartacus lead a number of successful battles through the Italian countryside, posing a great threat to the Romans and spurring the creation of the Roman Empire.

Additionally, the team has discovered several broken iron weapons such as sword handles, large curved blades, javelin points, and a spearhead—all indicative of fighting at the site, according to the Archaeological Institute of America.

“We started studying weapons recovered along the wall, and the closest comparisons are with weapons from the late Republican period,” Gennaro added. “We believe we have identified the site of the clash.”

[Tax-chick]

Cool.

[Libloather]

I am Spartacus. No joke.

[glorgau]

The Roman deep state definitely couldn’t abide people unwilling to be servants.

[BobL]

“Local environmentalists who found the wall alerted archaeologists”

How do environmentalists actually ‘find’ anything? Were they protesting at a refinery and tripped over a section of wall or something?

[SunkenCiv]

There were three servile wars during the "Roman Republic" [rimshot!] and the annihilation of Spartacus and his followers was the last one, for some reason.

By the time of Augustus, who was the first of the fulltime rulers-for-life (only one way to lose that job), most of the work in Italy was done by slaves, and perhaps 40 percent of the population of Rome were slaves, another few hundred thousand were on the bread dole due to not being able to find enough work to support themselves.

Those with special skills would sometimes sell themselves into slavery (more akin to an indenture) but most lacked skills needed by posh families.

There was no public school system, so posh families would have tutors bought in that manner. I think it was Marcus Aurelius who taught his own children how to read because he didn't think they should owe that ability to a slave.

There's a graffito, probably in one of the towns buried by Vesuvius, probably in the amphitheater or one of the gladiator barracks, "only Seneca has condemned the bloody games". IOW, there were even some gladiators who could read and write.

Hey, I found it, spot on. Yay me.

Thanks nickcarraway.

[11th_VA]

I’m Spartacus !!

[bobcat62]

I thought that clown in New Jersey was Spartacus?

[keat]

What if Spartacus had a Piper Cub?

[Rinnwald]

The ditch and mound (or fossa and agger, respectively) was a common Roman defense system.

...researchers have determined that the wall and ditches were constructed by Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus in 71 BCE in an effort to contain Spartacus and his army.

The logical leap from the first statement to the second is not fleshed out in the story. Did Crassus sign the wall? Did they get instructions from IKEA (place stone CCXVI on top of stone CCXV to stop Spartacus)?

[minnesota_bound]

Have they found Spartacus?...

[nwrep]

Clearly a Crassian creation.

[Rinnwald]

I see the Crassian in it now.