I stood in the midst of many who, like myself, were mourning the loss of friends and relations and had come there to obtain one parting look at those whose company they but a short time before had imagined they should always enjoy, but who were, without any regard to their own wills, now driven by the tyrant's voice and the smart of the whip on their way to another scene of toil, and, to them, another land of sorrow in a far off southern country. ", Moses Grandywas born a slave in Camden County. How could he, when he knew he would sell them, one by one, wherever he could command the highest price? They fled to Mount Vesuvius—the same volcano that later erupted to bury Pompeii—and accumulated 70,000 men to create an army. State laws gave slave marriages no legal protection and in these transactions husbands could be separated from their wives and children from their mothers. With these successes, more and more slaves flocked to the Spartacan forces, as did "many of the herdsmen and shepherds of the region", swelling their ranks to some 70,000. We know very little about the person called Spartacus. My master said, "Take your pick of the women. Mr. Rogerson was with them, on his horse, armed with pistols. That army was made up of discontented enslaved men and freedmen. Oh dear! Crassus correctly assumed the enslaved people would head north to the Alps and positioned most of his men to block this escape. They lost not only men and their arms, but later, when they returned to their commander, the survivors suffered the ultimate Roman military punishment—decimation, by order of Crassus. The bidding commenced at a few pounds, and gradually rose to fifty-seven, when I was knocked down to the highest bidder; and the people who stood by said that I had fetched a great sum for so young a slave. It wasn't until the following year, when Spartacus' army numbered about 120,000, that his fiercest opponent, Marcus Licinius Crassus, "a distinguished among the Romans for birth and wealth, assumed the praetorship and marched against Spartacus with six new legions.". Check out this biography to know about his birthday, childhood, family … One of the slaves sold had a wife and five children on another plantation; another slave had a wife and three children; and the other had a wife and one child. Classical historians often differ in opinions about his goal because none of the historical accounts suggest he strived to abolish slavery or reform Roman society. The material on this site can not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Multiply. To escape from his embarrassment it was necessary to sell one of the slaves. Master's children consisted of five daughters and two sons. What Kinds of Weapons and Armor Did Gladiators Use? There were four or five slaves at this business a good part of the time. Of course his discourse was interlarded with oaths and curses, with which I cannot pollute my page. Some historians regard the rebellion as a freedom struggle against slavery and oppression. Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off. He then settled in Rhegium near the Strait of Messina. His mother was ordered to dress him up in his Sunday clothes, and send him to the house. Little is known about this fighting enslaved man from Thrace beyond his role in the spectacular revolt that became known as the Third Servile War (73–71 BCE). Spartacus didn't want to be a gladiator or a slave, so he planned and executed an escape. I was then put up to sale. - Miss Betsey kissed us all, and, when she left us, my mother called the rest of the slaves to bid us good bye. If the romans did kill spartacus im sure that would be one body that would definetly NOT be left on the battlefield. No one can imagine my feelings in my reflecting moments, but he who has himself been a slave. However, most sources concur upon the fact that he was a former slave and a skilled military general and leader. The master, Billy Grandy, whose slave I was born, was a hard-drinking man: he sold away many slaves.