Crikey, it has been a long while since I last wrote a blog. Sadly this part of my cyber-life has been neglected, not because I didn't have the time to write one, but simply because I forgot about it. I shall be making up for it over Christmas. Hopefully.
Anyway, my slavery lectures finished just under a week ago. I'm extremely sad about this as there was so much more to learn, particularly about slavery in the Americas. It is rather annoying being an Ancient History and History student wanting to learn about American slavery, but not being able to because the options to do this are always taken up by Contemporary History students. They should have their own section of options so they don't ruin it for the rest, particularly as at uni you have to learn about all this medieval pish. Sorry, rant over.
I recently wrote an essay about Spartacus and the Third Servile War that killed thousands of people, all for him to gain freedom. His army, though well equipped and to start off with well disciplined, was untrained and unskilled, yet still managed to defeat Roman legions. Women and children fought alongside the men. The army was split into two factions, one led by Spartacus, the other by Crixus, but both were not heading towards the same goal - Crixus was thriving in the destruction that he was able to create in villages and places unprotected by soldiers, while Spartacus wanted his freedom. Spartacus' downfall was the fact for some unknown reason, his army changed direction. Even when there was a clear path for his army through the Alps and off to freedom, he did not take it. I argued that he was an unselfish man, fighting for the freedom of slaves. I am now starting to think that what I wrote, though obviously speculation, had only a small argument behind it.
The reasons are as follows:
1) He clearly did not want freedom that much. If anyone was that desperate to free themselves from slavery, they would have strode across the Alps and been out of sight of the Roman army, and would have been able to disperse before they could be caught. Spartacus did not do this. He instead, put his fellow slaves' lives at risk once again, and carried on fighting.
2) The change of direction. Did something distract him that made him think he needed to stay there and fight? Was there a threat awaiting them after they crossed the Alps? Or was he a glory-hunter and had his success blinded him into thinking he could do more? - 'Oh, look at Spartacus; he could have escaped but instead he fought on to bring justice to the slave population, to try and gain something more for them, sacrificing his life...' - something like that.
3) There is a speculative theory that Spartacus' objective was to march on Rome itself. This would suggest that he wanted to change the system as opposed to just desiring freedom. However, if this was the case, it again shows that Spartacus was trying to adorn himself with glory; by defeating Rome, he would have defeated the Roman Republic and thus would have been proclaimed the hero of slavery.
Spartacus wanted to achieve something that was not possible without the outside support of a Roman legion or the backing of a community. It therefore seems that once defeats starting coming Spartacus' way, instead of escaping west he threw everything he had at Crassus' army, all to no avail. Sure, it looks heroic, but realistically it achieved nothing for slaves; Roman slavery still existed, tighter laws were put in place by Augustus to stop anything like this happening again, and because of the victory orchestrated by Crassus and Pompey, it enhanced their political careers. Even though he very nearly succeeded, if Spartacus had just taken the option to flee, he perhaps would have been hailed a hero to the thousands of slaves in his army, and indeed to historians alike today. It appears that he did not feel this was enough, and this is what destroyed his chances of gaining freedom at all.
So, Spartacus hunger for recognition now for me overshadows any of the good that he did for the slave community. As for me, not much has happened in the past month and a half that can compare to what I have just talked about. My eye hurt for two days, I saw the new Twilight film (so-so) and Rise of the Guardians (amazing), eaten a considerable amount of Nandos and am currently hanging on for dear life at the end of the 2:1 barrier for my degree. Oh, and I did pretty well in a compulsory house Come Dine With Me, for someone who refuses to cook normally.
Bye for now,
@IAmNicolaJayne
