Biography of Spartak uprising

Link Copied! Copy Failed! The uprising of Spartak is more than two millennia ago on the Apennine Peninsula broke out the uprising of slaves led by Spartak. The many thousandth army kept Rome in fear and threatened to put an end to its undivided dominance in the Mediterranean. Despite the fact that many centuries have passed the memory of the hero and leader of Spartak, as if Phoenix flashed during the Great French Revolution.

It remains a symbol of resistance to this day. The figure of Spartak still does not cease to worry the minds of historians and inspire artists. Legends were composed of Spartak, books were written and films were shot. However, at present, the bourgeoisie seeks to pervert the image of a fighter for liberation in every way. At the beginning of the 20th century, V. Lenin gave Spartak the following characteristic: “Spartak was one of the most outstanding heroes of one of the largest uprisings of slaves about two thousand years ago.

For several years, the Almighty, it would seem, the Roman Empire, entirely based on slavery, experienced shocks and blows from the enormous uprising of slaves who armed and gathered led by Spartak, forming a huge army ”[1]. Why does the image of Spartak continue to be an example for millions oppressed in the struggle for his liberation? What caused the uprising and why did it defeat?

To answer these questions, it is necessary to plunge into the past and consider the historical era from the perspective of historical materialism. The historical era of ancient Rome, as one of the most developed civilizations of the ancient world, experienced several eras in its history. The reign was replaced by the republic, and the republic subsequently - the empire.

Spartak's uprising occurred in the late period of the republican device, where slave labor began to show its failure. The slave system was based on the antagonism of two opposite classes: slaveholders and slaves, as the main productive force. The Roman Republic was the most powerful state built on slave work. Patricians and slave owners had full property not only on means of production, but also on the slaves themselves.

The slave was not a member of society, had almost no rights and completely belonged to the owner. He was in the right to sell a slave, kill or buy a new one. Slaves hated their work and were not interested in it. The owner appropriated not only the entire surplus product, but also part of the necessary product that produced a slave, leaving it at least to exist and continue to work.

Enriching at the expense of slaves, the dominant class spent funds on the construction of palaces and temples, maintaining a luxurious life, an army to capture new lands and new slaves. The slave, along with his labor force, once and for all sold to his master.

He is the product itself, which can pass from the hands of one owner into the hands of another ”[2]. The Roman scientist and writer, as well as a contemporary of those events, Mark Terentius Varron spoke about the objects that processed the fields and divided them into three types: the speakers of the speakers are slaves; tools making inarticulate sounds - oxen; The instruments are dumb - carts [3].

Of course, slaves performed different labor depending on the whim of their owners. Some of them became actors, artists, philosophers and even small entrepreneurs, that is, Beijul. Such statuses undoubtedly gave them a more privileged position than the position of a slave at a construction site, farm or Latifundia. At the same time, it was the latter who created an surplus product, thereby enriching their owners.

Despite the position of the Roman state and the capital in particular, as the metropolis where all the resources were flocked in the conquered colonies, current production relations began to gradually conflict with productive forces, since slave labor gradually became economically unprofitable. The formation of Latifundia and the concentration of land property in the hands of the richest families required a constant influx of labor.

For its replenishment, bloody wars were waged, during which entire nations enslaved. In such a situation, free peasants and artisans could not withstand competition and were forced to get involved in the debt bondage of usurers. Unable to repay the debt once free people replenished the ranks of slaves. The endless military campaigns in remote territories for a long time torn off the soldiers from the house, which interfered with the housekeeping.

In Italy itself, a war broke out between Rome and the subject tribes of Italika, the Samnits, the Latins and others for the liberation from Roman oppression. The allied wars for the recognition of Italy’s rights of citizens turned civilian wars. The struggle for power in the Senate was heated, since in the Senate it was believed that Rome needed a dictator with a strong hand to restore order.

Rebells and riots flared up on farms. It reached the flight of slaves, damage to property, sabotage and even the murder of the owners.Before the major uprising of Spartak, the story knows two Sicilian uprisings, as a result of which the island was occupied by the leaders of the rebellious slaves who called themselves the kings of the new state. But both of them ended the same way: the assembled organized Roman army returned control over the island by force, and the new kings were thrown into prison.

The crisis and tearing contradictions did not prevent those in power from enjoying an idle life. One of these entertainments was gladiatorial battles, which are the bloody fights of slaves called gladiators. The fighters went to the arena of amphitheaters and fought not for life, but to death in the fun of a rich nobility and free people. One of these fighters was the Thracian Spartak.

Spartak and the beginning of the uprising to this day, the information about Spartak has survived a little. It is not known for certain where he was born and how he died. According to the most likely version, Spartak was born a free man in Thrace in the territory of current Bulgaria. In order to conquer new labor, the Roman state attacked the Thracian state, and Spartak was captured.

Thanks to his knowledge and skills, he was enrolled in the auxiliary units of the Roman army. There he studied the military tactics of the Romans well. Subsequently, Spartak deserted from the Roman troops and joined his compatriots, but was caught and sold to the Gladiator school in Kapua, belonging to the teacher, the tape of Batiatata. There, Spartak quickly gained authority among comrades thanks to his character, remarkable physical strength and skillful possession of weapons.

Charisma and tactical skills of Spartak allowed him to unite other gladiators and prepare an escape from school. Apparently, the plan of the gladiators managed to reveal, since only seventy managed to escape from the two hundred fighters. In 74, and according to some reports in 73 BC. To take a breath, and the detachment was gaining strength on the hills of the sleeping volcano Vesuvius.

At first, Rome was not serious about the rebellion and sent the three thousandth detachment of Gai Clabia Glabra. He took all the approaches to Vesuvia in order to freeze the fugitives with hunger, but the Spartak detachment, going down the ropes from the vines, went from the rear and broke the Glabra detachment [4]. After that, the name of Spartak flashed throughout Italy. Inspired by this example, slaves rebel against their owners in estates and begin to flock to Spartak.

In addition to the slaves, free residents of the south of Italy, impoverished small farmers, began to join Spartak. Spartak's uprising ceased only to be the uprising of slaves. It has become the uprising of all the oppressed! The Army of Spartak was replenished with runaway slaves and ruined farmers. By the beginning of 73, Spartak himself commanded the army, in the leadership he was helped by the closest associates: Enomay and Crings.

The service in the Roman army helped Spartak organize its army according to the same principles. The camp established a clear order of camping life and the strictest discipline. The commanders were chosen from among experienced fighters, and then appointed by Spartak himself. The following victories were not long in coming. In two battles, the publishes of Variniy was defeated.

Understanding that to fight with Rome on his territory is akin to death, Spartak decides to bring the fighters to the territory not yet conquered by Rome, that is, over the Alps. Thus, Spartak wanted to give a chance to return to his lands Galles, Germans, Thracians and other peoples who made up his army. Such events began to worry about the Senate. The little town riot grew into a real civil war.

The suppression of the uprising, but also such an army, collected from slaves and ruined small business executives could not remain disciplined for a long time. According to the research of the Soviet historian A. Mishulin, disagreements began due to social contradictions within the army. If the Army of Spartak, consisting of slaves and wanted to free herself from the Lord’s oppression, then the army of the crice consisted mainly of the free ruined farmers from the south of Italy, who wanted to return their lost property [5].

At that time, the Roman Senate was gathering two armies, led by commanders Lentul and Gell. Отколовшуюся армию Крикса удалось разгромить силами Геллия у горы Гарган. In this battle, Cricks himself dies. Despite such a loss, the Spartak army headed for a counterattack and won the consuls by one by one, taking advantage of their disunity. In response, the Senate begins to gather a new army led by an experienced and cruel commander Mark Crasses.

The rebellious slaves could cross the Alpine Mountains and settle in Gaul and Germany, but for unknown reasons, the army unfolded and headed south. According to one version of the slave, they wanted to raise the Sicilian island for an uprising, according to the other - take Rome. After some time, Spartak’s army clashed with the army of Crassus. According to Roman historians, Spartak heroically died in battle, trying to get to the Crasnu himself, killing two centurions on his way.

Having lost the leader, his army was defeated. The body of Spartak was not found, and the prisoners were crucified along the Appaire Road. For some time, scattered groups of the rebels acted in some areas of Italy, but they were soon suppressed. The uprising, which lasted almost three years shocked the whole then world and the slave system that existed at that time.

Such events accelerated the transition of the Roman state from the republican form of government to the imperial, as the most reactionary form of management.