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Article: Threats to the Republic.(Roman Republic)
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- October 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED THE DEATHS OF THE STATESMEN-GENERALS MARIUS AND SULLA, two military strongmen, Crassus and Pompey, enhanced their positions within the Republic. They did so by rescuing it from rebellious slaves and attacking pirates. Another Roman, the statesman and orator Cicero, also gained prestige during this period by saving the country from a treasonous threat to its security.
The first of the three crises, the slave insurrection, started in a gladiator school south of Rome in 73 B.C. Led by a resourceful gladiator-slave named Spartacus, the rebellion grew to include about 70,000 to 120,000 men. Spartacus and his followers terrorized the Italian ...