most part prisoners of war; many of them
had been chiefs and leaders in their own country, and were men not only
of strength and courage but of intelligence. In the big training school
at Capua there was such a man among the slaves: Spartacus, a Thracian
chief. His mind rebelled against the hopelessness of his lot and he
stirred up his fellows. Eighty of them broke out from captivity and made
their escape to the slopes of Vesuvius. There they built a strong camp,
and, as the news spread of what they had done, slaves from all over
Italy joined them: some breaking out of the schools and prisons as
they had done, others running away from their masters and places of
employment. A small force was sent against them. They drove it back
in disorder and captured its weapons. This success encouraged further
risings. Spartacus was soon at the head of a considerable force. In the
next year (72) he defeated a consular army. His own numbers rose to over
40,000. The war was fought with horrible cruelty and bitterness on both
sides. Neither gave nor expected any mercy. All captured slaves were put
to death. Spartacus compelled three hundred Roman prisoners to fight as
gladiators at the funeral games held for a fallen slave captain. Farms
and country houses were plundered and burned.

[Illustration: A THRACIAN GLADIATOR]

The growing success of the slaves filled people with terror: they
dreaded a general massacre of the rich. Yet it seemed impossible to
crush them. Spartacus showed rare qualities as a general and organizer;
and after he had defeated both consuls, in the following year, and began
to move northwards, there was something like a panic in Rome. No one was
willing to undertake command against him. At last Crassus came forward.
Here, he thought, was his chance to win glory equal to that which
Pompeius was gaining in Spain. His quick eye saw that the Roman armies
were falling to pieces through bad discipline: his first task was to
restore the strictness of military law.

In the beginning Spartacus seemed too strong and skilful for him, but
Crassus knew that in the end jealousies were sure to break out in his
ranks, since the slaves were men of different nationalities, only held
together by the will and skill of their commander. At last, after long
months in which success seemed hopeless, so hopeless that the Senate
recalled Pompeius from Spain to Crassus's infinite rage, he compelled
Spartacus to fight a battle. He was kill