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The Third Servile War (73–71 BC), also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Roman Servile Wars. The Third Servile War, the only one of these slave revolts to directly threaten the Roman heartland of Italy, especially alarmed the Roman people due to the repeated successes of the rapidly growing band of escaped former slaves against Roman armies between 73 and 71 BC. The concentrated military effort of a single commander, Marcus Licinius Crassus, finally crushed the rebellion, though the war continued to have indirect effects on Roman politics for years to come. Between 73 and 71 BC, a band of escaped slaves—originally a small cadre of about 78〔Plutarch Life of Crassus 8〕 (primarily Thracian, Gallic and Germanic〔Strauss, ''The Spartacus War'' Simon and Schuster, 2009, p. 20-22〕 escaped gladiators) which grew into a band of over 120,000〔Appian, ''Civil Wars'', (1:117 ) "… Spartacus sacrificed 300 Roman prisoners to the shade of Crixus, and marched on Rome with 120,000 foot…"〕 men, women and children—wandered throughout and raided Italy with relative impunity under the guidance of several leaders, including the famous gladiator-general Spartacus. The able-bodied adults of this band proved a surprisingly effective armed force that repeatedly showed that it could withstand the Roman military, from the local Campanian patrols, to the Roman militia, and to trained Roman legions under consular command. Plutarch described the actions of the slaves as an attempt by Roman slaves to escape their masters and to flee through Cisalpine Gaul, while Appian and Florus depicted the revolt as a civil war in which the slaves waged a campaign to capture the city of Rome itself. The Roman Senate's growing alarm about the continued military successes of this band, and about their depredations against Roman towns and the countryside, eventually led to Rome's fielding of an army of eight legions under the harsh but effective leadership of Marcus Licinius Crassus. The war ended in 71 BC when the armies of Spartacus, after long and bitter fighting, retreating before the legions of Crassus, and realizing that the legions of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey) and Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus were moving in to entrap them, launched their full strength against Crassus' legions and were utterly destroyed. The Third Servile War had significance in the broader history of ancient Rome in its effect on the careers of Pompey and Crassus. The two generals used their success in putting down the rebellion to further their political careers, using their public acclaim and the implied threat of their legions to sway the consular elections of 70 BC in their favor. Their actions as Consuls greatly furthered the subversion of Roman political institutions and contributed to the eventual transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Fictional accounts—such as Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film ''Spartacus''—sometimes portray the rebelling slaves as ancient Roman freedom-fighters, struggling to change a corrupt Roman society and to end the Roman institution of slavery. Although classical historians do not contradict this interpretation directly, no contemporary historical account mentions that the goal of the rebel slaves was to end slavery in the Republic, nor do any of the actions of rebel leaders, who themselves committed numerous atrocities, seem specifically aimed at ending slavery.〔 〕 == Slavery in the Roman republic == Through varying degrees throughout Roman history, the existence of a pool of inexpensive labor in the form of slaves was an important factor in the economy. Slaves were acquired for the Roman workforce through a variety of means, including purchase from foreign merchants and the enslavement of foreign populations through military conquest.〔Smith, ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', ("Servus", p. 1038 ); details the legal and military means by which people were enslaved.〕 With Rome's heavy involvement in wars of conquest in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, tens if not hundreds of thousands of slaves at a time were imported into the Roman economy from various European and Mediterranean acquisitions.〔Smith, ''Greek and Roman Antiquities'', ("Servus", p. 1040 ); Caesar, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'', 2:33. Smith refers to the purchase of 10,000 slaves from Cilician pirates, while Caesar provides an example of the enslavement of 53,000 captive Aduatuci by a Roman army.〕 While there was limited use for slaves as servants, craftsmen, and personal attendants, vast numbers of slaves worked in mines and on the agricultural lands of Sicily and southern Italy.〔Smith, ''Greek and Roman Antiquities'', ("Servus", p. 1039 ); Livy, ''The History of Rome'', (6:12 )〕 For the most part, slaves were treated harshly and oppressively during the Roman republican period. Under Republican law, a slave was not considered a person, but property. Owners could abuse, injure or even kill their own slaves without legal consequence. While there were many grades and types of slaves, the lowest—and most numerous—grades who worked in the fields and mines were subject to a life of hard physical labor.〔Smith, ''Greek and Roman Antiquities'', ("Servus", pp. 1022–39 ) summarizes the complex body of Roman law pertaining to the legal status of slaves.〕 This high concentration and oppressive treatment of the slave population led to rebellions. In 135 BC and 104 BC, the First and Second Servile Wars, respectively, erupted in Sicily, where small bands of rebels found tens of thousands of willing followers wishing to escape the oppressive life of a Roman slave. While these were considered serious civil disturbances by the Roman Senate, taking years and direct military intervention to quell, they were never considered a serious threat to the Republic. The Roman heartland had never seen a slave uprising, nor had slaves ever been seen as a potential threat to the city of Rome. This would all change with the Third Servile War. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Third Servile War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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