1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910779669303321

Autore

Schiavone Aldo

Titolo

Spartacus [[electronic resource] /] / Aldo Schiavone ; translated by Jeremy Carden

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, Mass., : Harvard University Press, 2013

ISBN

0-674-07583-8

0-674-07580-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (208 p.)

Collana

Revealing Antiquity ; ; 19

Classificazione

NH 7250

Disciplina

937.05092

B

Soggetti

Enslaved persons - Rome

Gladiators - Rome

Soldiers - Rome

Slave rebellions - Rome

Rome History Servile Wars, 135-71 B.C

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

"This book was originally published as Spartaco ... 2011 by Giulio Einaudi Editore SpA, Torino".

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-171) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION -- BEFORE BEGINNING . . . -- Maps -- 1 THE FUGITIVE -- 2 THE COMMANDER -- 3 THE LOSER -- THE ANCIENT SOURCES -- NOTES -- SUGGESTED READING -- INDEX -- REVEALING ANTIQUITY

Sommario/riassunto

Spartacus (109?–71 bce), the slave who rebelled against Rome, has been a source of endless fascination, the subject of myth-making in his own time, and of movie-making in ours. Hard facts about the man have always yielded to romanticized tales and mystifications. In this riveting, compact account, Aldo Schiavone rescues Spartacus from the murky regions of legend and brings him squarely into the arena of serious history. Schiavone transports us to Italy of the first century bce, where the pervasive institution of slavery dominates all aspects of Roman life. In this historic landscape, carefully reconstructed by the author, we encounter Spartacus, who is enslaved after deserting from the Roman army to avoid fighting against his native Thrace. Imprisoned in Capua and trained as a gladiator, he leads an uprising that will shake the



empire to its foundations. While the grandeur of the Spartacus story has always been apparent, its political significance has been less clear. What were his ambitions? Often depicted as the leader of a class rebellion that was fierce in intent but ragtag in makeup and organization, Spartacus emerges here in a very different light: the commander of an army whose aim was to incite Italy to revolt against Rome and to strike at the very heart of the imperial system. Surprising, persuasive, and highly original, Spartacus challenges the lore and illuminates the reality of a figure whose achievements, and whose ultimate defeat, are more extraordinary and moving than the fictions we make from them.