Spartacus -- a Lover or a Fighter?

Spartacus -- a Lover or a Fighter?

Spartacus is a heroic character of ancient Rome. He was the Thracian gladiator who was displayed as the symbol of valor, passion, resilience and courage. Spartacus was responsible for major uprising of Slaves from 71 to 73 BC. It was his leadership which made the slaves of the Roman world arose against their masters and raises their voice against the injustice that they were subjected to everyday. Spartacus was the one who stood up against the act of rulers not fulfilling their promises and using other humans for their own entertainment. During this voyage of his, he had to lose his wife and best friend because of the ruler but everything that happened to him, made him even a greater lover. It was the power of his love that gave him strength to stand up against the empire and kill the King.

Spartacus originally was the Gladiator who was leading the Thracian's involvement in a unit of Roman auxiliary in a campaign against the Getae tribes that occupied the regions of the Lower Danube, in what today is Romania) under the command of the Legatus Claudius Glaber. In 72 -- 71 BC, Roman Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus, proconsul of the Roman province of Macedonia, marched against the Getae, who were allies of Rome's enemy, Mithridates VI of Pontus. The Getae frequently raid the Thracians' lands, so the Thracians are persuaded by Glaber to enlist in the Romans' service as auxiliaries. Glaber is swayed by his wife Ilithyia to seek out superior grandeur, decides to break off attacking the Getae and directly confront the forces of Mithridates in Asia Minor. This makes the theracian face the betrayal and he led the mutiny against Glaber in return. When he got back to the Village, he found it burnt to ashes.

On his visit to village, Thracian and his wife Sura were imprisoned by Glaber. Glaber made the Thracian face the death penalty in the arena where four gladiators were assigned the task to kill him. Sura, his wife on the other hand was enslaved and sold to Syrian slave dealer. In the circumstances, where his own life was endangered, and he was being mutilated and humiliated in front of Roman public, nothing could take away Sura's love from him. In fact, it gave him more strength to survive everyday, be it quest in the arena or the bullying older gladiators in the prison. His love for Sura grew when he was given the status of Slave. This pushed him to strive more and look out for opportunities which could get him liberty.

Since he wanted his wife and lover, Sura, back in his life, he made alliances with other prisoners inside the prison and made his way to get Sura back. This was a different struggle altogether since his hands were all tied up because of slavery. Spartacus appears to be the advocate of the fact that love can be one's strength and can act as the drive for life. This belief and ideology was reflected in every action of his. During his training in Capua, Italy, he kept on planning to get free and have his love back. In the pursuit of that he promises his trainer, Batiatus to cooperate in arena fights in exchange of getting his wife back. Since Spartacus had the raw talent of fighting and courage but he despised being used for other people's amusement and made to do this things against own will. It was the drive of love which made him do both. He proved that Love surely has divine powers which could control actions of Kings as well as peasants.

Although Spartacus tried really hard to get his wife back and he was succeeded in his efforts but it was the ill plan of Batiatus, the owner of Spartacus that killed Sura. The whole intention was to retain the great fighter who was brining glory to Batiatus. Batiatus was right as killing Sura took the motive of living away from Spartacus and he became loyal to arena only. Spartacus chose to forget the dream of independence as there was nobody he could live for. Resultant was a loyal slave who fights for the amusement of throne and the public. He was now the Champion of Capua and was the legend of Arena.

Giving up lives for the ones he loved was the sole mission of Spartacus. But he had to face even more hardships when he was made to face his best friend Varro in the arena. The match was arranged at the arrival of Capua magistrate's son, Numerius. He was seduced by Ilithiya who hated Spartacus for humiliating her husband Glaber. She forced Numerius to demand the death of loser of the match in the arena. Spartacus was at fate's mercy once all over again because if loses he would have to give up his life and if he wins, it's his friend that he has to put to death. Events made Spartacus believe that it was Batiatus who managed to get Sura killed. Once his suspicions were confirmed, he wanted to kill Batiatus and seek for his revenge. It was the drive for love which made Spartacus kills the very same person he was being loyal to, since his wife died.

Love once again became his strength and made him rise against the Roman Empire. He made an alliance with his fellow gladiators and started a Thracian movement against slavery. He knew that if any of the empire position or legacy holders remain alive, revolution will be suppressed. As a result, he and his fellow beat the house of Batiatus and destroyed it completely. He and his fellows killed everyone who came in the way, be it, Batiatus, doctore Oenomaus, Lanista, or Ilithiya. Even wife of Batiatus was killed with her unborn child by Crixus. Later on, Numerius was also killed because blood of Varro was on his sleeves. After the massacre, Spartacus vows to make "Rome tremble."