Spartacus was as close to a God humans has ever encountered
in the documented history of humanity.
Veronica, the wife of Spartacus was pleasingly possessed
by the ecstatic frenzies of Dionysus, a half god in Greek mythology. Professor Brent
D. Shaw’s translation of “Spartacus and the Slave Wars” states that Dionysus
was a son of Zeus, and the god of fertility, superhuman strength, long life and
vitality.
Thus far, everything written about Spartacus is mostly
from his enemies, the Romans. The two books I’ve read about Spartacus illustrated
that he was indeed real, and a true humanitarian who should be revered forever.
“Spartacus and the Slave Wars” documents how Spartacus
escaped his slave training camp in Capua, Italy with his wife Veronica, his
friend Crixus and about 60 other slaves. The name of Spartacus’s wife is not
known. There is no documentation of her actual name. Everything you may read
about his wife, or see in a movie, including the four-year Netflix series “Spartacus”
is a made-up name, so in my mind, her name was Veronica.
More than 70 years before the birth of Jesus Christ,
Spartacus was forced to fight in arenas for the Romans. Spartacus may have been
Roman himself, but many claim he was a Thracian, which is Belgium today. The
Netflix “Spartacus” series adhered to the books very closely with awesome embellishments.
A resounding thumbs up for the Netflix “Spartacus” writers.
The people who wrote about Spartacus claim he was
indeed a man of great spirit and bodily strength. During his peak years, early 30s
or late 20s, he was not only a physical specimen to behold, but also a noble man
with great intelligence and like the movies, a romantic. Coming from his enemies,
this make the documented history of Spartacus even more powerful. He was indeed
a fan favorite in the arenas, a true figure of fame and fear.
Upon escaping his slave encampment, his 60 or 70-person
army swelled to 60,000 or 70,000 warriors in less then two years. Some historians
claim the Spartacus army was more the 200,000 troops. Regardless, upon their victorious
battles, Spartacus spilt all the money evenly amongst all those who fought with
him which is the main reason slave warriors were eager to join Spartacus and
fight in a justified war.
“Spartacus and
the Slave Wars, A Brief History with Documents” pointed out how pirates
betrayed Spartacus. Had the pirates joined Spartacus like they said, they could
have shipped him and his army to Sicily, and maybe Spartacus and his army may
have defeated the Roman army.
Spartacus’s body was never found on the final battlefield,
but historians claim he was killed. It took the Roman army two years to defeat Spartacus
and his army who were fighting for freedom and justice.
Large governments are ruled by greed and massive numbers
of brain-washed soldiers, and in the end, more than 6,000 of Spartacus’s troops
were crucified and their dead bodies upon their crosses lined the main road to
Rome for a long time, as a warning to not rebel against the government and its
evil regime.
“Spartacus and the Slave Wars” (2001) translated by
then professor Shaw at the University of Pennsylvania is an easy a quick read.
It also documents the history of the two other slave wars approximately 35 and
60 years before the Spartacus war.
Mark Schurr aka Izzy Schurr
