He waited until the Romans were bathing before springing a raid on their encampment. He tied vines together to make ropes and climbed down cliffs to launch attacks on his enemies from behind. Spartacus would turn out to be a master of the art of the surprise attack. They underestimated the skill of their opponent. When Spartacus and 70 or so of his comrades revolted and escaped from their gladiatorial school near Capua in 73 BC, everyone imagined the matter would soon be dealt with. It was this over-confident belief in their natural superiority that would prove the downfall of many of the Roman commanders sent against Spartacus. Roman gladiators were war prisoners and criminals, not sporting heroes They were no match for a proper Roman citizen. You might admire their skill with a sword, but you were never in any doubt about their depravity and lack of moral fibre. To the Romans, gladiators were the lowest of the low. These days we tend to over-glamourize the status of gladiators.

All agree he had been reduced to slavery and had been condemned to fight as a gladiator. One ancient text claims he had once fought in the Roman army before being imprisoned. Our sources have him coming from Thrace, roughly modern Bulgaria.

We know little about the precise background of Spartacus. What makes the Spartacus story different is the status of the protagonist. Roman history is not lacking in acts of bravery or self-sacrifice.