Archaeologists Find Roman Wall Built to Trap the Legendary Spartacus
Spartacus’ army apparently fought to break out of the trap Crassus had set, meeting their rivals at the wall and ultimately overcoming the legions and living to fight another day.

Detail of mosaic depicting gladiators, Villa Borghese. Spartacus is said to have attended gladiatorial training school. (Public Domain)
In a discovery sure to capture a good deal of public attention, a team of archaeologists have found the remains of a Roman wall built to trap the forces of Spartacus, the escaped former Roman gladiator who led the most celebrated and famous slave revolt in world history.
The discoverers of this fascinating and historically significant find were led by Dr. Paolo Visona, a classical archaeologist from the University of Kentucky in the United States.
The Roman wall was found in a mountainous area in south-central Calabria in southern Italy, where Spartacus and his rebellious forces fled in 71 BC in their efforts to escape to Sicily. Walls like this one were built on the orders of the Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus, who had been dispatched to lead the Roman legions assigned to capture or kill Spartacus and his army of freed slaves and former gladiators.
- Spartacus: Gladiator and Leader of Slaves Against the Romans – Part 1
- Anna Komnene: The Byzantine Biographer Princess and First Female Historian
- READ
Comments