Spartacus

Timeline

1. c. -111–-73Thrace · ThraceClassical sources say he was born in Thrace, took part in local wars, was captured and sold into slavery, and sent to a gladiator school in Capua; under harsh oppression and the gladiator-show system he developed a will to resist, becoming the core figure of the later revolt.
2. -73–-72Mount Vesuvius · CampaniaLed some seventy gladiators to break out of prison, seized weapons and gathered at Mount Vesuvius, defeating a Roman expeditionary force and absorbing many fugitive slaves and poor; the rebel army grew to tens of thousands, operating in detachments across southern Italy and at one point threatening Rome's grain supply lines.
3. -72–-71Southern Italy · LucaniaThe rebel army advanced south to the tip of the peninsula; according to Plutarch Spartacus proposed crossing the Alps to return north, but his followers refused and the army turned south again; the Roman Senate entrusted Pompey, Crassus and other senior figures with suppression, and after internal division and repeated fighting the rebels gradually fell into a passive position.
4. -71Lucania · LucaniaCrassus built a defensive line in Lucania and defeated the main rebel force; Spartacus fell in the final battle; many captured rebels were crucified along the Appian Way, ending the Third Servile War, though the social contradictions of the slave system were not resolved.