The emphasis is on Spartacus, his life in the mines and as a gladiator his character, powers of leadership and dreams of a just society where exploitation and cruelty have been eliminated. On arrival at a palatial country villa where they are to spend the night, the trio meet with other guests, both historical and fictional, who either played key roles in the events just finished or who have sufficient perception to analyze the significance of slavery as an institution within the Roman Republic.įrom the encounters at the Villa Salaria, the focus of the novel moves to occasions before and during the actual rising of the slaves. During the first day of their travel the party encounter several representative individuals a minor politician, a prosperous businessman of the equestrian class, an eastern trader and a young officer of the legions all of whom give their respective perspectives on the rising. The road is lined by 'tokens of punishment' - slaves crucified in the immediate aftermath of the revolt. The appearance of this title in the North Castle series brings back into print a book that many regard as a classic, and is enhanced with a new Introduction by the author.'Spartacus' begins with three young Roman patricians - Caius, his sister Helena and her friend Claudia, beginning a journey from Rome to Capua along the Via Appia a few weeks after the final suppression of the slave revolt. The story of Spartacus, born a slave, trained as a gladiator, who led a slave revolt that was eventually put down by Crassus, was immensely popular, has sold millions of copies, and has gone through nearly a hundred editions. It was originally published in 1951 by the author himself, after being turned down by every mainstream publisher of the day because of Fast's blacklisting for his Communist Party sympathies.

Spartacus, a fictionalization of a slave revolt in ancient Rome in 71 B.C., is well known today partly because of the 1960 movie starring Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. It was originally published in 1951 by the author himself, after being turned.

Spartacus by Howard Fast