Spartcus and the Slave Wars: A Brief History with Documents(The Bedford Series in History and Culture)

In this examination of the Roman institution of slavery, Brent Shaw presents a compelling selection of the ancient testimony relating to Spartacus and the Slave Wars. A revised introduction places Spartacus in the context both of recent historical work and in relation to images of Spartacus in television and film media. The existing collection of translated Greek and Latin sources has also been fully revised, and now includes additional documents that flesh out the Roman responses to the Spartacus slave revolt. A new image has also been provided to illustrate the nature of the slave villas of the period.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Preface Lists of Maps and Illustrations PART ONE: INTRODUCTION: Spartacus and the Slave Wars The Slave Wars in Italy and Sicily Spartacus: the Man, the Myth, and the Modern Symbol of Rebellion Reading Greek and Roman History Sources A Note about the Text PART TWO: DOCUMENTS Slave Life on the Large Farms: Work, Organization and Surveillance Gladiators, Slaves and Resistance Fugitive Slaves and Maroon Communities Slave Revolts in Italy and Sicily before the Great Slave Wars The First Sicilian Slave War, 135-131 BC The Second Sicilian Slave War, 104-100 BC The Spartacus Slave War, 73-71 BC APPENDICES A List of the Principal Authors and their Sources Glossary of Greek and Latin Terms Chronology of Events of the Slave Wars (198-60 BC) Questions for Consideration Selected Bibliography

About the Author :
BRENT D. SHAW is Professor of Classical Studies and Chair of the Graduate Group in Ancient History at the University of Pennsylvania. He has published in many major historical, sociological and anthropological journals, including Past and Present, American Historical Review, History Today, Journal of Roman Studies, Man and American Journal of Sociology and is editor of the collected papers of Sir Moses Finley. He is the recipient of the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, and has been Commonwealth Scholar at Cambridge University, an honorary visiting fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge and Goldman Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. His study of violence in Roman society, especially in civil conflict in the later Roman Empire, helped inspire this volume.

Review :
'Here Shaw provides a virtually comprehensive collection of translated sources for Rome's major slave wars, superbly contextualized for the undergraduate student. As a bonus, the reader gets an eye-opening essay on Spartacus as a modern historical icon, the best short introduction to the nature of Roman rural slavery that one is likely to find, and a thoughtfully selected bibliography. Even specialists in ancient slavery will have much to learn from Shaw's incisive analysis.' - T. Corey Brennan, Bryn Mawr College 'Brent Shaw has done a real service by collecting the sources of Spartacus and putting them in the context of earlier Roman slave wars. This volume is impressive: the material is fascinating and the translations are excellent. It is a collection that will challenge students to think about slavery in a comparative context.' - Ronald Mellor, University of California at Los Angeles 'Brent Shaw's collection of ancient testimony relating to Spartacus and slave wars offers a compelling, user-friendly, yet scholarly presentation of one of the most fearful episodes in Roman history. His translations are accurate; the transitional narrative, comments, and explication clear and concise. A brief history of the Spartacus myth offers an additional bonus.' - Valerie M. Warrior, Boston University 'This is an imaginative volume with lively and readable translations. Brent Shaw uses a widely known event, the Spartacus War, to teach about the central social institution that characterized Roman society and slavery, and surveys the historiorgraphy about Spartacus as a tool to discuss modern uses of ancient history.' - Richard Saller, University of Chicago