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Excerpt from Lives of the Noble Romans
Published in Lives of the Noble Romans, 1959

Few societies in history have been as dependent on slavery as ancient Rome. In fact, Romans lived in terror of a slave uprising; in 73 B.C., their worst fears were realized when a slave named Spartacus led a slave revolt. Over the course of two years, approximately 120,000 slaves fought the Roman forces throughout Italy before finally being defeated in 71 B.C.

This conflict is known as the Gladiatorial War, because Spartacus and the others who began it were gladiators, or warriors who fought to their deaths in a ring while cheering spectators watched. Slaves like Spartacus were trained to be gladiators at a center run by Lentulus Batiates, in the southern Italian city of Capua.

Spartacus came from Thrace, which was located in the area that is present-day Bulgaria. Many of the...