Battle against ArriusUnseen skirmish against Pompey and his legions
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The Final Battle of the Third Servile War. Spartacus, with the rebels who chose to stay and fight, fought against Marcus Licinius Crassus and his legions. The battle takes place in the episode Victory.
Battle[]
Spartacus came up with a plan of battle. Knowing his forces were far smaller than Crassus' he had a trench dug, between the two forces. Spartacus raced further in and then stopped to wait for the Romans to fall into his trap. As
the Romans raced forward, many soldiers fell into the trench, impaling themselves on the spikes. Spartacus then commanded his archers to shoot towards the Romans, killing several, yet Crassus orders to form Testudo. The Rebels yet rise bridges hidden in the sand, towards the Romans, disintegrating the Testudo and beginning the battle
Crassus commands Catapults and Ballista towards the rebels killing them aside from many Romans. But Gannicus arrives leading the rebel cavalry and infantry, taking control of ballistic and avoiding the Romans to use the catapults.
But even Gannicus' charge is not enough to save the rebel cause. The Romans in the rear turn to face the attack, while continuing to outflank the rebels. Eventually even the most formidable rebels, including Saxa, Naevia, and Lugo, begin to fall. Gannicus is surrounded by a Roman battle formation and slowly cut down. Meanwhile, Spartacus and Crassus face each other in a final showdown. After a lengthy battle, in which heavy wounds are dealt to both men, Spartacus gains the upper hand just before being speared in the back by a clutch of legionaries. As Crassus stands over him, Spartacus watches as the last of his followers are enveloped on the plains below.
However, just before Crassus can finish the job, Agron, Nasir and a handful of other rebels ride in and snatch their leader from the hands of death.
Outcome[]
- Victory for the Romans.
- Naevia, Saxa, Castus, and Lugo die on the battlefield alongside many others.
- Spartacus fights Crassus and almost kills him, when he is speared three times by Crassus' men, mortally wounding him.
- Spartacus later dies, surrounded by surviving rebels including Agron, Nasir, Belesa, Adal, Sibyl, Laeta, and the Rebel Mother.
- Gannicus was captured by Caesar and other Roman soldiers and then crucified along with Kore, Rabanus, Kraynos, Litaviccus, and many others who were also captured during the battle.
- A sizable number of rebels are cornered and defeated by Pompey and his legions.
- The remaining rebels escape, going north towards the Alps.
Trivia[]
- The Siler River is located in the south-western Italian region of Calabria, where the historical final battle of the Third Servile War was decided.
- Choice of the writers to geographically relocate the Battle of the Siler River in northern Italy may have been intentional, so as to make the survival of the remaining slaves in Spartacus' army more likely if they were able to reach the Alps instead of being cornered by Roman forces in southern Italy.
- Historically, some surviving rebels were able to settle in the recently re-taken city of Thurii (replaced in the show with Sinuessa en Valle) through unknown means, perhaps by masquerading as Thurii citizens who were killed by the rebels in 72 BC when they invaded the city. Gaius Octavius (father of Augustus Caesar) later sieged the city himself in 60 BC, finding and killing the surviving rebels living there.
- A large portion of surviving rebels was set upon by Pompey and his legions as they returned to Italy, in the region called Etruria. Easily defeating this small army, Pompey quickly wrote to the Senate of his victory, trying to steal the military glory from