Spartacus (1960)
Director: Stanley Kubrick.
Starring: Kirk Douglas (Spartacus), Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, Nina Foch, Herber Lom, John Ireland, Charles McGraw, Woody Strode, Joanna Barnes
Spartacus (Kirk Douglas), leader in the Gladiatorial War (73-71) against Rome. Olivier plays Crassus.
Historical Background:
Spartacus
149 to 146 -- Third Punic War
147 -- Roman forces destroy Corinth; Romans destroy Carthage: of 500,000 inhabitants only 50,000 remain alive; sold into slavery
147 -- Greece comes under Roman control
146 -- the Roman Empire consists of 7 provinces: Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, the two Spains, Gallia Transalpina, Africa, & Macedonia
133 -- Asia Minor becomes eighth Roman province
133 -- Tiberius Gracchus, Roman reformer, murdered at investigation of the Senate
129 -- Scipio the Younger, destroyer of Carthage
123 -- Gaius Gracchus, brother of ?Tiberius, elected tribune & plans wide reforms
123 -- Carthage rebuilt
121 -- Gaius Gracchus killed in a riot; his reforms abolished
115 -- Marcus Licinus Crassus, Roman politician, born
112-105 -- war in Africa between Rome & Jugurtha, king of Numidia
105 -- Marius, assisted by Sulla, defeats Jugurtha
103 -- Cimbri and Teutones become allies and decide to invade Italy
101 -- Marius, having defeated the Teutones at Aguae Sextiae, defeats the Cimbri at Vercellae
100 -- Marius consul for the sixth time
90 -- civil war in Rome; Marius driven out by Sulla.
89 -- Roman army, led by Sulla, regains control of Italy.
88 -- risings against Roman rule at Athens.
86 -- Marius dead.
85 -- Marcus Junius Brutus, Roman politician, Cato's nephew and son-in-law born.
82 -- Sulla defeats the younger Marius and is created dictator for life.
79 -- Sulla voluntarily resigns his dictatorship.
78 -- Sulla dead.
Spartacus
?? -- born a Thracian; serves in the Roman Army, but he may have deserted
?? -- leads bandit raids, caught, and sold as a slave.
73 b.c. -- with about 70 fellow gladiators he escapes a gladiatorial training school at Capua; takes refuge on Mount Vesuvius, where other runaway slaves join him.
He defeats two Roman forces in succession and overruns most of southern Italy, their numbers growing to 90,000.
72 -- Spartacus defeates the two consuls and fights his way northward toward the Alps, hoping to be able to disperse his soldiers to their homelands once they were outside Italy.
But his men refuse to leave Italy, so he returns to Lucania in the hope of crossing over to Sicily.
71 -- This plan is thwarted by the new Roman commander sent against him, Marcus Licinius Crassus. Hemmed in by Crassus' eight legions, the Romans are able to pick off the parts of Spartacus' army; the Gauls and Germans first, Spartacus next. Spartacus is killed in battle. Pompey's army intercepts and kills many slaves escaping northward, and 6,000 prisoners are crucified by Crassus along the Appian Way.
Revolutionaries such as Adam Weishaupt in the late 18th century and Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, and the other members of the German Spartacus League of 1916-19 drew inspiration from the life of Spartacus.
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