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

Shaw, Brent D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312183100 ISBN 13: 9780312183103

Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001

Synopsis

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. In 73 B.C., in the heart of Rome’s Mediterranean empire, a slave named Spartacus ignited one of the most violent episodes of slave resistance in the history of the Roman Empire — indeed in the world annals of slavery. Organizing 80 original Greek and Latin source translations into topical chapters on the daily life of slaves trained as gladiators and those who labored on farms in Italy and Sicily, Shaw includes accounts of revolts that preceded and anticipated that of Spartacus. In a carefully crafted introductory essay, Shaw places Spartacus in the broader context of first and second century B.C. Roman Italy and Sicily and explains why his story continues to be a popular symbol of rebellion today. The volume also includes a glossary, chronology, selected bibliography, 3 maps, an annotated list of ancient writers, and questions for consideration.

About this title

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 been published in many major historical, sociological, and anthropological journals, includingPast & Present, American Historical Review, History Today, Journal of Roman Studies, Man, andAmerican 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, 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."

About this edition

• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0312183100
• ISBN 13: 9780312183103
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208