Wednesday, December 19, 2012

How Did Spartacus Really Die?


Here is a video version of the following article on the question of the Death of Spartacus. I suggest that there is the very real possibility that he somehow escaped death that day...









I loved the last season of the Starz series Spartacus. They did an excellent job of staying true to the historical story.  There's a bit of a mystery historically on what finally did happen to this great man.


In the end of the 1960 movie Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas, Spartacus dies crucified on the Appian Way, along with the remnants of his rebellion (albeit seeing his son, who will now live in freedom). 

But I wanted to explore the primary texts for the end of Spartacus.

The account of the demise of Spartacus comes from Appian, The Civil Wars 1.120. We learn some interesting information.


In the final battle with Crassus:


Spartacus was wounded in the thigh with a spear.
( τιτρώσκεται ἐς τὸν μηρὸν ὁ Σπάρτακος δορατίῳ)

The account goes on to say that Spartacus sunk to one knee and continued fighting until he and those with him were killed.

But then the account adds:

The dead body of Spartacus was not found.
(καὶ τὸν Σπαρτάκου νέκυν οὐχ εὑρεθῆναι.)




In the end, we'll never know what happened. All we know is that his dead body was never found. While it may seem likely he died in battle, I am happy his body was at least spared the indignity of some public humiliation by the Romans. And absent a dead body, there is always the possibility that the man somehow did survive and escape. 

But why did the Romans, who controlled this battlefield of the dead, not just pick some random body and parade it around Rome, telling the people that it was Spartacus? The answer is that too many people had actually seen the real Spartacus as a gladiator. And so the inability to locate his body when it was all over is very intriguing. 



UPDATE (AND SPOILER ALERT ON THE FINAL EPISODE IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T YET SEEN IT):
Victory was a terrific final episode to both this season and a fitting conclusion to a terrific series. They did write into the series the fact that the dead body of Spartacus was never found. Spartacus did defeat Crassus and Crassus will always
know it. Caesar will always know he couldn't beat Gannicus in open combat. And Spartacus did achieve his victory, to die a free man. Thank you, Starz for a wonderful and thoughtful series.

LET'S HOPE STARZ DOES SPINOFF TO A JULIUS CAESAR SERIES!







28 comments:

  1. Spartacus lives! Thanks for the analysis.

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  2. To the best of historical knowledge, Spartacus who came from what’s now called Bulgaria, Stara Zagora area. Spartacus, The true history says he destroyed every Roman legion sent against him and his followers. He actually made it to freedom on a number of occasions, but his hatred of Rome was so deep he continuously decided to turn and take more of his enemies, in an attempt to completely destroy the roman empire. Unfortunately, Rome was around its peak of power, therefore he was eventually defeated by the legions. How he died is in reality unclear and rife with speculation.

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    1. I would prefer to not know how he died therefore I can keep the image of his strength in my mind.

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    2. hopefully spartacus kills crassus and caesar then escapes. with the thought he has freedom and peace for the rest of his life.hopefully he doesnt end up like andy whitfield.. which was pain and suffering. neither deserve that fate. gonna miss the greatest show ever made. im 47 year old man and i cried when crixus died. gonna be a mess if they kill liam next week. they think davincis demons can replace spartacus. haha dont think so. thank you starz network for a great thrill ride. gratitude!

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    3. This is one of the best series I have ever seen. Although I am glad I did not live in that era. Women had no rights. The Romans were horrible people. It's no wonder they were destroyed from moral decay. Spartacus was a brave man. What else is there to say the

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    4. your claim that spartacus's hatred of rome meant he continually turned to take more roman lives is false. spartacus wanted to cross the alpes, it was the fact that his army consisted of many different nationalities meant that there was divided opinion as to what was the best way forward. After he split with crixus he did not want to see his army split further so he honoured the wishes of his army and continued to terrorise Italy.

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  3. A cool end cool be that Spartacus is wounded by a spear and an arrow cause nobody can get him in close combat, he falls in "coma" and falls incouscious and most of his army die protecting and retreating him, Crassus push the advantage and slaughter many of the spartacus'men who prefer fight in honor for Spartacus, then Crassus claims that Spartacus is Dead to ends the slave rebellion, save his honor, and to get the glory before Pompea ! Spartacus not dead, but like crassus said he is dead nobody search about him no more, he cans go live anonymous under another name with Gannicus Sybil and Laeta and maybe others. The weird fact is that in real history Spartucs killed many romans in each battles and in that final battle romans got 1000 loses but Spartacus'army 60 000, it seems that something gone wrong, like Sparctasus being wounded prematurely, early in the battle causing this...

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    1. illiterate. thank god it was anonymous lol

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    2. The fact remains that all our accounts of the Thirds Servile war are derived from Roman sources. To say that they are likely skewed to show Rome in a more favorable light would be an understatement. It is easily believable that Spartacus' army was defeated. But, it is very hard to believe that the man on whom Rome had placed the largest bounty in antiquity was killed and his body never found. It is a little too convenient. I would argue that Crassus declared Spartacus dead in order to gain some political leverage over Pompei. In reality, Spartacus probably made it out of the battlefield wounded, and it is also entirely possible that he survived to make it out of the Italian peninsula.

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    3. lets hope he escaped capture. hopefully srarz series wasnt how it really went down.

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  4. by far the greatest show ever! how ever,very upset with ending! first of all the last show titled victory. should of been TWO HOURS long.second,they called that episode victory.you were led to believe the producers were ROMANS!the only part spartacus fans have to cherish is the death of tiberius. WHOOPDIE DOO!after suffering the loss of andy whitfield to cancer(R.I.P.)i was hoping they would of picked the scenario of spartacus getting speared in leg, and getting away to maybe live out the rest of his life in peace, but NO! WE AS FANS HAD TO SIT AND WATCH ALL OF SPARTACUS'S ARMY DIE!poor gannicus crucified and left to rot to death! boo to you steven s. deknight and rob tapert. you guys dropped the ball on series finale! to watch liam (spartacus)gasp for air then DIE!!!WAS HORRIBLE!im messed up for life after that scene. at least they could of killed off scaredy cat caesar! a true punk! and crassus getting his arm cut off or something. but no they survived. and the SLAVES ALL DIED! any true fan of the show should be disappointed too, with the producers ending to a GREAT SHOW.NO GRATITUDE TO THAT ENDING! r.i.p. to spartacus and his rebel army! see you in the afterlife.

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    1. you are 100pct. right! what a bad ending for such a great story. to watch these people fight for what we today take for granite...FREEDOM!!. to end up being slaughtered was hard to watch! not one happy ending to story.. unless you loved agron and nazir or laeta. gannicus gave up his freedom to join cause. and paid for it with his life. only bright spot for us fans was when lucretia,illithia and batiatus, and glaber fell. oh and lets not forget that traitor asher...nice to see him die! off with his head! STARZ network should of ended story with an injured spartacus fleeing battle after killing crassus and that punk caesar. and leaving to viewers to speculate whether he had a life of peace and freedom. STARZ...you blew it...the ending that is. to one of the greatest human interest stories of all time!!!! GRATTITUDE! for the show...BOOHOO TO THE ENDING. kudos to liam mcintyre for an EPIC PERFORMANCE! and wont forget manu for role as crixus! much GRATITUDE! to there performances.

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    2. just found out that there is a spin off to the greatest show ever...of course im talking SPARTACUS BABY!...its going to be..CAESAR! crassus right hand man and tiberiuses butt buddie! lets hope justice for Spartacus fans is granted! DEATH TO CAESAR! we will be watching and waiting..maybe agron will send him to the FU---NG AFTERLIFE!

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    3. if there is a spinoff, they should name it....THE MIGHTY CAESAR SALAD TOSSER WITH A SIDE OF TIBERIOUS DRESSING! LOL!

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  5. the reason his body was never found is, crassus beheaded spartacus and his body laid with the thousand other dead body's left to rot. without any way to identify a headless body back in that era. i think and believe crassus kept spartacus*s head as a trophy for a while then disposed of it. hope im wrong but while i was on a trip to rome recently. i dug up that fact or rumor. unless we can invent time travel, guess we will never know.

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    1. That does not make sense, and seems rather careless. He would have wanted his body found, so he would be victorious over Pompey. The accounts that remains says he was wounded in the leg feel to his knees, how could they not find his body. He killed two guards Cruesses.

      They Displayed 6000 sslaves to showcase what happens when there is a revolt against the rRoman Empire. Cruesses was not given glory for ending the war, but Pompey was. He was given awards for capturing all the slaves. He wanted and needed the glory. I can't believe if he had Spartacus in his sights he would allow his men to be so careless with his body, or just left with the others. For Spartacus body would have ment he was given the highest honor of the Republic for ending the war.. I believe he was there and killed his horse and maybe hurt but I also believe he was able to evade capture. I also believe some of his people were in the Alps waiting. They broke in so many small groups and what is written does not add up to how society was, it sounds like a cover up. He died in battle and injured but yet Cruesses would just walk away and let Pompey claim the victory. Sounds like he did not have a body to produce leaving no choice but for Pompey to claim victory as his body was not there.

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  6. The Legend Ends- Great Show Indeed

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    1. REMOVE C*CK FROM F**KING ASS! HAHA THE HOUSE OF BATIATUS RISES TO THE F**KING HEAVENS! FRIDAYS ARE NOT THE SAME WITHOUT SPARTACUS AND THE REBEL SLAVES! GRATITUDE FOR A HELL OF A RIDE!

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  7. By far, the greatest show ever made! Best good looking people on screen, male and female! I like the fact that the actors are not those known to be Hollywood stars, I have had my fill of those! Except for John Hannah, and he was absolutely great! Steven DeKnight should and must re-make Troy all over again, with the same kind of actors! Even better, why not 3 or 4 seasons based on Aquiles! Troy is a good production, but next to Spartacus, it but feels like a child's game!

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  8. one line from Spartacus from episode called the dead and the dying! classic liam McIntyre. crixus! crixus! split heavens with the sound of his name. let it carry to crassus and pompey! as distant thunder promising storm of blood! all those who are able, to make final stand against rome! this I promise you! we will live free! or join our brothers in death! and kudos to manu bennet for his epic role as the undefeated gaul, crixus!

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  9. classic crixus saying..rome! at last, lies within our grasp. one last legion, led by the fool arrius! is all that stands between us and a victory that shall become legend! a lifetime ago when I stood beneath the roof of the house of batiatus. my dotttore onemaus demanded answers from those recruits who sought glory upon the sands of the arena. what lies beneath your feet! sacred ground watered with tears of blood! and this day it shall be rome who sheds them! manu rocks crixus best supporting actor next to liam!

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  10. Jupiters C**k ... If crassus had beheaded spartacus im pretty sure he would have displayed his head for all to see and believe that he actually did kill The Bringer of Rain. If the romans did kill spartacus im sure that would be one body that would definetly NOT be left on the battlefield. Your comment bares no truth so Fall from presence or see head parted from neck.

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    1. the guy said he heard a rumor in rome not a definite! so remove c*ck from ass! and fall to decimation!

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    2. Lol that's the problem he heard from Rome. Like they would leave the truth to be found.... A Roman conspiracy cover up..... Clues would be found in cities were Rome had no authority and close enough to reach.

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  11. Wow spartacus! There is no show like dat ever and there will be none!

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  12. all speculation and rumors. fall from presence or see c**k removed from your a**

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  13. If only Spartacus could have ended with the sound defeat of both Crassus and Caesar! Sadly, they can't rewrite history, so there was only one way the show could end. :'( At least we all know that Caesar meets an earned treacherous end at the pointy ends of dozens of pointy daggers. And Crassus.....let's just say he truly did have a mouth that "spewed gold" Heh, heh, heh.....

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  14. Have you guys forgotten these words of Spartacus, "Do not shed tear.... There is no greater victory that to fall from this world...a free man."

    This the reson why they named the last episode as "Victory".

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