Historical Overview Section
Spartacus was trained at the gladiatorial school (ludus) near Capua, belonging to Lentulus Batiatus. In 73 BC, Spartacus and some seventy followers escaped from the gladiator school of Lentulus Batiatus. Seizing the knives in the cook's shop and a wagon full of weapons, the slaves fled to the caldera of Mount Vesuvius, near modern day Naples. There they were joined by other rural slaves.
The group overran the region, plundering and pillaging. Spartacus's intention was to leave Italy and return home. His chief aides were gladiators from Gaul and Germania, named Crixus, Castus, Gannicus and Oenomaus. The Senate sent an inexperienced praetor, Claudius Glaber against the rebels, with a militia of about 3,000. They besieged the rebels on Vesuvius blocking their escape, but Spartacus had ropes made from vines and with his men climbed down a cliff on the other side of the volcano, to the rear of the Roman soldiers, and staged a surprise attack. Not expecting trouble from a handful of slaves, the Triumverate Romans had not fortified their camp or posted adequate sentries. As a result, most of the Roman soldiers were still sleeping and killed in this attack, including Claudius Glaber. After this success many runaway slaves joined Spartacus until the group grew into an army of allegedly 140,000 escaped slaves
Apparently, Spartacus had intended to march his army out of Italy and into Gaul (now Belgium, Switzerland and France) or maybe even to Hispania to join the rebellion of Quintus Sertorius. There are theories that some of the non-fighting followers (some 10,000 or so) did, in fact, cross the Alps and return to their homelands
The rest marched back south, and defeated two more legions under Marcus Licinius Crassus, who at that time was the wealthiest man in Rome. At the end of 72 BC, Spartacus was encamped in Rhegium (Reggio Calabria), near the Strait of Messina. Spartacus's deal with Cilician pirates to get them to Sicily fell through. In the beginning of 71 BC, eight legions of Crassus isolated Spartacus's army in Calabria. With the assassination of Quintus Sertorius, the Roman Senate also recalled Pompey from Hispania; and Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus from Macedonia.
Spartacus managed to break through Crassus's lines and escape towards Brundisium (now Brindisi), but Pompey's forces intercepted them in Lucania, and the slaves were routed in a subsequent battle at the river Silarus, where Spartacus is believed to have fallen. According to Plutarch, "Finally, after his companions had taken to flight, he (Spartacus) stood alone, surrounded by a multitude of foes, and was still defending himself when he was cut down". According to Appian, "Spartacus was wounded in the thigh with a spear and sank upon his knee, holding his shield in front of him and contending in this way against his assailants until he and the great mass of those with him were surrounded and slain"; The body of Spartacus was not found.
After the battle, legionaries found and rescued 3,000 unharmed Roman prisoners in their camp. 6,600 of Spartacus's followers were crucified along the via Appia (or the Appian Way) from Brundisium to Rome. Crassus never gave orders for the bodies to be taken down, thus travelers were forced to see the bodies for years after the final battle. Around 5,000 slaves, however, escaped the capture. They fled north and were later destroyed by Pompey, who was coming back from Roman Iberia. This enabled him also to claim credit for ending this war. Pompey was greeted as a hero in Rome while Crassus received little credit or celebration.
Using the army in ADLG
- This army kinda must take a strategist (OK, they are not compulsory, but surely...?) , and so with its +3 Command that leaves room for only one competent command and one ordinary, or two ordinary.
- The HI Armed Slaves are the most effective use of the 12 "real" combat units, but taking all 12 makes this essentially a Gallic/Galatian army with different figures and less cavalry. Having a mix of Medium and Heavy gives you some capability in rough terrain, which for an army woith so little maneuver is worthwhile
- Impetuous Levy are a hoot - but go down like flies after the first round, or against anything with 4 legs and a man with a pointy stick. Don't be afraid to get them stuck into anything that their Impetuous Impact/Furious Charge can hurt though - they will die in drives anyway, but the more times you roll a combat dice the more chance you have to get lucky. Trust in sheer numbers to compensate for the inevitable losses
- The Spartacus list only has the option to take up to 2 medium cavalry units with Spartacus, leaving much to be desired for mobility. No allies means you cannot use other lists to cover this flaw.
- The army cannot take a fortified camp, which combined with the lack of cavalry means you will need to devote some foot units just to keep Light Cavalry from sacking your camp.
- Maximum LF skirmishers is almost mandatory, as it bulks the army up even more, and stops your combat troops being delayed from getting into combat, or being damaged by enemy shooting before they do.
Half a dozen Impetuous Levy deployed on a flank to quickly stretch out will easily stop any enemy LH from getting round your flank
Useful Links
User-contributed links about this army:
- Spartacus DBA Figure Gallery for this army - from Fanaticus
- Spartacus Revolt DBA Figure Gallery for this army - from Fanaticus
- Spartacus DBA Figure Gallery for this army - from Fanaticus
- I'm Spartacus! Video The Pepsi remix
- Dantes wars Blog Painting and building a Spartacus army
- Slave Revolt in 15mm including some burning rollers from the movie !
Army Lists
Sample army lists for this army
Spartacus - Madaxeman Devonian Classic 2023
Spartacus
4 Armed Slaves Medium Swordsmen Impetuous ------
3 Herdsmen Light Infantry Sling ------
1 Gallic Cavalry Medium Cavalry Elite
6 Unarmed Slaves Levy Impetuous ------
1 Gallic Cavalry Medium Cavalry ----
==
Competent Included
2 Well Equipped Gladiators* Heavy Swordsmen Armour Impact Elite
4 Armed Slaves Heavy Swordsmen Impetuous ------
3 Herdsmen Light Infantry Sling ------
4 Unarmed Slaves Levy impetuous ------
2 Women & Children Levy Mediocre
==
Ordinary
6 Unarmed Slaves Levy Impetuous ------
84 - Spartacus (v4 list Devonian Classic)
Spartacus
3 Armed Slaves Heavy swordsmen impetuous
6 Unarmed Slaves Levy impetuous
2 Herdsmen Light infantry sling
2 Gallic and German Cavalry Medium cavalry
1 Gladiator with Roman Equipment
==
Competent
6 Unarmed Slaves Levy impetuous ------
2 Herdsmen Light infantry sling ------
1 Gladiators with Roman Equipment Heavy swordsmen armour impact Elite
3 Armed Slaves
==
Ordinary Unreliable
5 Armed Slaves Medium swordsmen impetuous
2 Herdsmen Light infantry javelin
(33 units)
==
This list uses included commands to save on points so the army can have tons of units. Gannicus's command will protect the camp, while the other two large commands fight the battle.
200 Points
Spartacus
- 1 Gladiators with Spartacus - Heavy Swordsmen Armor Impact Elite
- 5 Heavy Swordsmen Impetuous
- 5 Medium Swordsmen Mediocre
- 4 Light Infantry Sling
Crixus (Competent)
- 1 Gladiators with Crixus - Heavy Swordsmen Armor Impact Elite
- 5 Heavy Swordsmen Impetuous
- 4 Medium Swordsmen Mediocre
Gannicus (Ordinary & Unreliable)
- 2 Medium Cavalry (Gannicus included)
- 4 Levy Impetuous
15mm Manufacturers supplying figures for this army
This is a full listing of all known 15mm manufacturers with Roman-era ranges, which notes those with gladiators (even though it's unlikley that many of the slaves actually used gladiatorial equipment. A full listing of who supplies what can be found in my 15mm Suppliers directory
You can see some of the figures in the Ancients Photo Gallery. This blog has a good size comparison of different manufacturers.
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- Forged in Battle - Roman Conquest line has slave revolt.
- Donnington - Slave Revolt Range
- Museum Miniatures - Gladiators range
- Black Hat Miniatures (previously Gladiator Games) - have Penal Legion figures in their early Roman range
- Old Glory 15's, Have generic ancient figure ranges suitable for "Mob"
- Magister Militum have Penal Legion figures
- QRF Models Penal Legion figures, possibly Roman skirmishers & some of the Greek light infantry figures in the Hellenistic ranges.
- Tin Soldier Penal Legion figures in Gallic Equipment, plus a "Generic" figure with a range of weapons and heads
- Outpost Wargame Services - Have a Gladiator Range
- Rebel Miniatures Pack of 4 "heroic sized" miniatures
- Micky Yarrow 7 packs of "assorted" Gladiators, male and female