Posted on 03/18/2007 9:32:41 AM PDT by freedom44
You seriously think 21st century political boundaries tell us anything at all about 100 to 500 BC ethnic affinities?
Spartacus was a Thracian. Does that name sound Greek?
We have exactly zero information on Spartacus' background. One theory is that Spartacus was a Thracian-style gladiator, not an ethnic Thracian, possibly even a deserter or criminal expelled from the legions, and therefore a Roman or at least an Italian.
At the time, there were only two "types" of gladiators, the Thracian and the Gaul. Thus when the ancient records referred to Spartacus as a Thracian, we don't know whether they are referring to the style in which he fought or his ethnicity. Certainly his effectiveness as a leader of the insurrection points in the direction of his having previous military experience, again possibly in the Roman legions, many of whose criminals or deserters wound up gladiators.
BTW, gladiators of the time were quite different from what they became later under the Empire. Deaths happened, but were not the primary focus of the exhibition, which was rather on the skill of the combatants, most of whom survived to retirement and promptly went to work for the faction leaders in Rome.
bfl
Correction. Most of the ancient authorities refer to Spartacus as an ethnic Thracian who had served as an auxiliary in the Roman armies.
Whether this is correct or not cannot be determined. All the ancient sources are extremely hostile to Spartacus. How dare a slave rebel?!
The modern idea of Spartacus as more or less a hero and good guy would be utterly beyond the comprehension of the men who wrote their accounts in the 1st century BC.
Totally revisionist. Herodotus was by no means the only ancient historian to reference the battle. Thucydides comes immediately to mind. There are many others. This was clearly an event which was widely admired and the story was told and retold through the ancient world.
Wasn’t there some rumbling back to 1898?
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Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. |
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