The Servile Wars were a series of three
slave revolts ("servile" is derived from "''servus''", Latin for "slave") in the late
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
.
Wars
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First Servile War
The First Servile War of 135–132 BC was a slave rebellion against the Roman Republic, which took place in Sicily. The revolt started in 135 when Eunus, a slave from Syria who claimed to be a prophet, captured the city of Enna in the middle o ...
(135−132 BC) — in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, led by
Eunus
Eunus (died 132 BC) was a Roman slave from Apamea in Syria who became the leader of the slave uprising in the First Servile War (135 BC–132 BC) in the Roman province of Sicily. Eunus rose to prominence in the movement through his reputation a ...
, a former slave claiming to be a prophet, and Cleon from
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
.
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Second Servile War (104−100 BC) — in Sicily, led by Athenion and
Tryphon.
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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) — on mainland Italy, led by
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 uprisin ...
.
See also
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Slavery in ancient Rome
Slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in society and the economy. Besides manual labour, slaves performed many domestic services and might be employed at highly skilled jobs and professions. Accountants and physicians were often slaves ...
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Latrocinium ''Latrocinium'' (from Latin ''latro'', "bandit", ultimately from Greek ''latron'', "pay" or "hire") was a war not preceded by a formal declaration of war as understood in Roman law; thus guerrilla warfare conducted against Rome was a form of ''latro ...
References
130s BC conflicts
100s BC conflicts
70s BC conflicts
2nd century BC in the Roman Republic
1st century BC in the Roman Republic
Roman Republican civil wars
Wars involving the Roman Republic
pl:Powstanie niewolników na Sycylii
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