SPARTACUS

Evening Star, Issue 16991, 13 March 1919, Page 8

SPARTACUS

HISTORY WITH A MODERN ' V APPLICATION. [By T.F.M., in the ‘Argus.’] Since the cessation of the long-drawn-out agony of the great war and the subsequent flight of the whilom admiral of the Atlantic to the sanctuary of Holland, political saviours of variegated types have come to light in Hunland, among them being a band of ultra red-flaggers styling themselves the League of Spartacus, a title which carries ns back to the time when ancient Romo, as a republic, was entering the last stage of its decline and fall. That is not to say that Roman society in the years immediately preceding the advent of the triumvirate—Ctesar, Pompey, and Orassus—was in a state of decadence and decay, like the Roman society of the fourth and fifth centuries a.d. In the lust days of the republic there was no lack of military spirit, nor was there any lack of activity in literature, in commerce, and in the various lines of Roman money-making. There was, however, a deplorable lack 1 of patriotism and public spirit. Politicians, busi ness men, and militarists were all alike dominated by what might be describe as Sinn Feinism. In other words, they were all seeking their own personal advantage, unhampered by any regard for the constitution they lived under or the common good. Loud-voiced agitators and political adventurers ' sprang up in every quarter, and readily found plenty of followers among the discontented masses around them. Strength was added to the forces of anarchy by the numerous conflicts between rival factions, which tended to loosen the farmework of society and to suppress the principles of justice and of respect for law and order and the golden rule. Gladiatorial combats held the first rank among the popular amusements, and these barbarous displays entailed the necessity of maintaining establishments for the safe custody and training of the slaves, captives, and criminals, who wore destined to kill, or'be killed, ion the pleasure of the sovereign people. In the year 75 8.0. a number of these involuntary fighters- was being maintained at Capua* by a wealthy patrician named Batiatus, and among them was Spartacus; under whose leadership T6 of his fellow-captives broke loose from their prison-house and raised the standard of revolt. Weak though it was at the outset, this insurrection rapidly assumed so formidable a character that three years were needed for its suppression, ancl, indeed, at one stage it appeared to bo not merely an insurrection, but a successful revolution. Spartacus was a Thracian by birth, who, while serving in the Roman army among Thracian auxiliaries, had deserted and joined a band of brigands in the I mountains of Italy. There he was captured and consigned to the custody of the Uapuan patrician before mentioned, to be trained as a gladiator. It would appear that hb was possessed of great physical strength and courage, and likewise endowed with no little ability as a military leader, yet the movement he instigated, when the best has been said about it, was nothing more than a rising of robbers, a character it maintained until its extinction. At tlTfe outset, Spartacus may have been actuated by a sincere desire to benefit his fellow-slaves, but ho speedily found that he had set evil forces in motion which he was powerless to control. A great part of central and southern Italy was then held by wealthy “squatters,” whose flocks were tended by slaves willing enough to join up, with Spartacus and thus find opportunity of robbing and murdering their obnoxious masters. For a time they met with great success. Following the outbreak of Capua, the rebels found tempoarry refuge in the crater of Vesuvius—at that time supposed to be extinct—and a hastilycollected force of 3,000 Roman troops attempted to starve them out': but, despite their small number and defective armament, Spartacus and his gang boldly scrambled down the steep declivities of the mountain and drove the Romans to flight. \ This victory was the means of bringing a vast number of recruits to the rebel standard, and the extent of the ravages they perpetrated may be guessed from the wellknown line of Horace, in which he promised his friends a jar of wine “if he could find one that had escaped the clutches of roaming Spartacus.” A great part of rural, Italy was ruthlessly devastated, and many cities were sacked, the inhabitants of which had to suffer all the atrocities which the bandits of ancient days, like the Huns of modern days, could inflict upon defenceless men, women, and children. The struggle between the Roman legions and the rebels soon came to assume the nature of a massacre rather than a war. Every rebel captured was promptly crucified,* and, on the other hand, such Romans as were made prisoners were compelled, with sarcastic retaliation, to slaughter one another in gladiatorial combats. But Spartacus himself seems to have nurtured no illusions as to the outcome of the rebellion. The dissensions and jealousies which were at work in his camp revealed to him his real weakness. It was borne in upon him that he was not really the leader of his forces, but that his forces were leading him ’to his and their own destruction. His original plan of campaign was to fight his way to the north of Italy 5 and break through the barrier of the Alps, so that his followers, who wore mostly aliens, might betake themselves to their native homes in Gaul, Thrace, and elsewhere. But his thought that to the victors belonged the spoils. Intoxicated by their victories, they saw the wealth of all Italy gleaming before their eyes,' so the advice of their chief was treated with derision. Against his better judgment, Spartacus was persuaded to continue the campaign in Italy, yet, although he defeated the Romans in battle after battle, he failed to counteract the insane ideas and lust for plunder that permeated his own ranks. In their anxiety to bring about the deposition of the only man amongst them with any real capacity for leadership, the more rabid section of the banditti, though they failed to have Spartacus “booted out,” in causing what might be termed a serious partv split. Several minor factions broke adrift from the main body, and these were speedily annihilated ip detail by the consular forces, which next began to close in steadily upon the “ dinkums ” who had remained faithful to Spartacus. That | warrior fully realised the gravity of the situation, and decided to transport his discouraged and disorganised remnant to Sicilv. With intent to secure a passage across, the Strait of Messina, he entered rite a treaty with a squadron of pirates, who, as it* turned out, had as much regard as had the modern Huns for the sanctity of a lic-aty. Thev took the money t pauacus had agree I to pay, and then set sad with,v t the men. With the Republican troopclose at hand, -Spartacus and ris followers seemed to be caught in a trap, bit. tiiverly breaking through the cordon, they hastily moved northwards, and for a time it appeared as if the Eternal Gitv it solt was to become their prey. But apparently their hearts failed them. Instead of assailing Borne, Spartacus again essayed to reach the coast, in the hope of making his escape across the, Adriatic. But again ho was foiled. Brought to hay by the more numerous and better equipped Republican troops under Crassus, he was slain along with the major part of his following in the fierce battle’that ensued. A number managed to break through and retreat towards the Alps, bub had *thfe misfortune to encounter Pompey (the Great), then on his way back from‘Spain. He slaughtered the rebels to the last man. while the prisoners captured in the battle itself, numbering some 5,000, were hanged by the victors along the highway from Rome to Capua. Such was the inglorious end of the Spartacus revolt in the year 71 8.c., and the news reaching us by cable in this year 1919 A.D indicates that a somewhat similar Nemesis is dogging the heels ot the revolutionaries in Hunland, who consider that the name Spartacus gives a true indication of their aspirations. Of course these fanatics endeavor to hide their real object, yet a discerning public can easily jiereeive that, like their brethren, the Bolsheviks, the Syndicalists, and the One Big Unionists, the most ardent, desire of the Spartacub doctrinaires is to enrich themselves at the expense of their neighbors.