---
node: spartacus
type: person
slug: spartacus
title: "Spartacus"
lead: "Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator who led the largest slave revolt against the Roman Republic, the Third Servile War (73-71 BC), until he was defeated and killed by Crassus. Little about him is known for certain, but he became a lasting symbol of resistance to oppression."
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-11
image_file: spartacus.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spartacus,_marble_sculpture_of_Denis_Foyatier_(1830),_Louvre_Museum_(8269334205).jpg"
image_author: "Carole Raddato"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 2.0"
---

## Who they were

Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator who led the largest slave revolt against the Roman Republic.

## What they did

In 73 BC he escaped a gladiator school at Capua and led a growing army of escaped slaves that defeated several Roman forces across Italy in the Third Servile War (73-71 BC). He was defeated and killed by Crassus in 71 BC, and thousands of his followers were crucified along the Appian Way.

## Legacy

Little about him is known for certain, but he became a lasting symbol of resistance to oppression, invoked by later revolutionaries and popularized by novels and film.