Roman Republic · 73-71 BC

Spartacus and the great slave revolt

In 73 BC a Thracian gladiator broke out of a school in Capua with about 70 others and soon led tens of thousands. Students look at Roman slavery through the eyes of the enslaved and follow the revolt across Italy.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, 73 BC to 71 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 73 BC a Thracian gladiator broke out of a school in Capua with about 70 others and soon led tens of thousands. Students look at Roman slavery through the eyes of the enslaved and follow the revolt across Italy.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the lives of enslaved people and gladiators in Roman Italy.
  • Trace the route of Spartacus' army from Capua to the north of Italy and back south.
  • Explain why the revolt was so hard to defeat, and how Rome finally crushed it.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

73 BC

The breakout

Open the map in 73 BC and zoom in on Campania. Find Capua, where Spartacus and about 70 gladiators escaped, and Mount Vesuvius, where they first camped. Why choose a mountain?

Open this view on the map
b

72 BC

North and back

Zoom out to see all of Italy. In 72 BC Spartacus' army marched north as far as the Po valley, then turned back south. Why might he not have crossed the Alps?

Open this view on the map
c

71 BC

Trapped in the south

Pan to the far south, where Italy faces Sicily. Crassus dug a long ditch and wall across this peninsula to trap the rebels. Find the narrow strait to Sicily.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Most enslaved people in Roman Italy were war captives or their children. How did Rome's many wars lead to this revolt?
  2. Spartacus' army grew from about 70 gladiators to tens of thousands of people. Who do you think joined him, and why?
  3. Every Roman writer who tells this story was on the side of the slave owners. What problems does that cause for historians?
  4. After the revolt, Rome executed about 6,000 captured rebels along the road from Capua to Rome as a warning. Why did Rome want everyone to see this?
  5. Why do you think Spartacus became a hero for later freedom movements and in films?
4

Game round

10 min

No ruler in Rule History fought Spartacus. Play the Julius Caesar round: Caesar was a young politician in Rome during the revolt, and later the ally of Crassus and Pompey, who crushed it. Discuss: whose story is missing from the game, and how would an enslaved person have seen these rulers?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.