Spartacus and the Slave Wars, Essay Example

The historical accounts of Spartacus have been translated into a movie in the 1960s. In this movie that was directed by Stanley Kubick, Spartacus is portrayed as a leader who was born to free the slaves of Rome. He was the opposing force that will take down the ruling power of Rome. Although most of the accounts of the story are true to the written history, there are some details that are not in accordance to what was actually written. The main diversion of the movie to the written history is the motivation of the rebellion that Spartacus led. Is it for the purpose of the ending slavery as depicted in the movie? It is imperative to note that the Spartacus did not intend to end slavery.

Spartacus was a gladiator and he did not like the idea that the people in power can decide to start a gladiator fight for the sake of entertainment. Hence, he persuaded some of the enslaved men to break free rather than be the subject of entertainment for other people’s pleasure (Shaw, 140.) Clearly, Spartacus did not intend to overturn the social organization and structure that the Romans built. His intentions were to stop risking their life fighting another gladiator just so the Romans can have a little bit of enjoyment. However, because Spartacus had gained a lot of supporters from 70 enslaved men to 70,000 (Shaw, 141) Rome took it as they wanted to overthrow the empire. This is where the battle and slave war started as Rome deployed soldiers to try and kill Spartacus and not because he is born to lead the entire slave population to freedom. As a matter of fact, they became the oppressors themselves and raping both married women and young girls (Shaw, 147). Spartacus did not even have the power to stop the barbaric act considering he was their leader. Although it can be said that Spartacus paved the way to an attempted freedom of the slaves, it was not his intention. The attempted freedom was only the result of the Romans’ fear of being overthrown. All he wanted to do is to stop the gladiator fight and move away and not have to fight the strong forces of the Romans.

Work Cited

Shaw, Brent. Spartacus and the Slave Wars: A Brief History with Documents. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2001.