Oenomaus was a Gallic gladiator, who escaped from the gladiatorial school of

Lentulus Batiatus Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Vatia (also called Lentulus Batiatus by Plutarch) was the Roman owner of a gladiatorial school in ancient Capua. It was from this school that, in 73 BC, the Thracian slave Spartacus and about 70 to 78 followers escaped. T ...

in Capua. Together with

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising ...

, Crixus,

Castus Castus is a Latin word meaning clean and pure. *Lucius Artorius Castus, Roman general * Castus and Emilius, Roman martyrs and saints *Castus (rebel), Roman rebel gladiator in the Third Servile War See also *Vitex agnus-castus ''Vitex agnus-cas ...

, and

Gannicus Gannicus was a Celtic slave, who together with the Thracian Spartacus, Crixus, Castus and Oenomaus, became one of the leaders of rebel slaves during the Third Servile War (73–71 BC). In the winter of 71 BC, Gannicus, along with Castus, broke ...

, he became one of the leaders of rebellious slaves during the

Third Servile War The Third Servile War, also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last in a series of slave rebellions against the Roman Republic known as the Servile Wars. This third rebellion was the only one that directly ...

(73–71 BC) Oenomaus was involved in one of the first major successes of the slave army, the

rout A rout is a panicked, disorderly and undisciplined retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale (''esprit de corps''). History Historically, lightly-equi ...

of the army of the praetor

Gaius Claudius Glaber Gaius Claudius Glaber was a military commander of the late Roman Republic, holding the offices of legate and military praetor in 73 BC. He was defeated in the Battle of Mount Vesuvius against the forces of Spartacus during the Third Servile War. ...

, who had tried to lay siege to the slave army near

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of s ...

. Oenomaus fell in an early battle, possibly during the winter of 73–72 BC when the slave armies were plundering cities and towns in the south of Italy.

In popular culture

*Oenomaus appears as a character in ''

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus'' is a 1992 concept album produced and composed by Jeff Wayne with Lyrics by Gary Osborne, telling the story of Roman gladiator, Spartacus. It starred Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones (in her fir ...

''. *Oenomaus, depicted as a (Black)

Numidian Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

, is portrayed by

Peter Mensah Peter Mensah (born 27 August 1959) is a Ghanaian English actor, best known for his roles in the films '' Tears of the Sun'', '' Hidalgo'', '' The Incredible Hulk'', ''300'', and television series such as Starz' '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'', '' ...

in the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

television series ''

''. *Oenomaus is the name of a gladiator-slave in the futuristic setting of

Warhammer 40,000 ''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, ...

. Like the historical Oenomaus, he is a leader and organizes an uprising, dies significantly before the uprising ends, and is not the overall leader of the uprising.

References

Ancient sources

* Orosius, ''Histories'' 5.24.1-2 * Appian, ''Civil Wars'' 1.116 * Florus, ''Epitome'' 2.8.20

Secondary literature

* Bradley, Keith. ''Slavery and Rebellion in the Roman World.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oenomaus 1st-century BC Romans Celtic warriors Gaulish people Rebel slaves in ancient Rome Roman gladiators Third Servile War 70s BC deaths Year of birth unknown Spartacus