Preserving Democracy. Elgin L Hushbeck

      Unlike the Spartacus of the movie, the real Spartacus was not born into slavery, but had been a mercenary who had served in the Roman army. So Spartacus not only knew how to fight as a gladiator, he knew how the Roman armies fought, and so how to fight them. When the Romans thought that they had the gladiators trapped on a mountain side, they relaxed a bit as they starved the gladiators out. But instead of attacking the army directly, the gladiators used vines to climb down cliffs and sneak around behind the army. They attacked from the rear where the Romans were not prepared.

      The defeat of the Roman army of 3,000 sent shock waves across the countryside. Spartacus issued a call for all slaves to revolt and join him. And come they did. The small group of gladiators, who had escaped to become a band of raiders, grew to become a disciplined army of 70,000 men, defeating several more Roman armies along the way. The huge mass of slaves began to move north to the Alps and freedom, looting whatever they needed from the towns they passed along the way.

      In response, Rome sent even larger armies, headed this time by the two consuls of Rome. One consul found a splinter group and defeated it. The other found Spartacus’ main force. However, this consul, Gellius Publicola, was known more for his ridicule of Athenian philosophers than his generalship. His army was defeated.

      The way to Alps and freedom was now open; but the slaves, having their freedom, now sought to be like their former masters. Having defeated all that Rome had thrown at them and having looted the towns they passed by had given them the confidence to believe that they were invincible. The rest of Italy would be theirs for the taking.

      The former slaves became the masters. They even took some of the prisoners from Gellius’ army and made them fight in their own gladiatorial games. Then they turned and headed south. Their numbers continued to grow and the army of 70,000 became 120,000. It could have grown even larger but Spartacus, fearing the problems of maintaining an even larger force, began turning recruits away.

      Rome was now in full panic. Pompey was recalled from Spain but that would take time. Marcus Licinius Crassus, an ambitious and wealthy man, seized the opportunity and stepped forward. He demanded complete authority, for he did not want to share the glory that would come as savior of Rome, nor the power that would surely follow from it.

      While an accomplished general, he was also the wealthiest man in Rome. Some questioned whether he had what it took to defeat Spartacus. His opportunity to remove all doubts occurred when two of his legions, disobeying orders, attacked Spartacus before Crassus was ready and were defeated. Crassus had the legions decimated as a punishment. Decimation was an ancient but rarely used punishment. The legions were lined up and then every tenth man was selected out and killed. It was a brutal punishment, but one that convinced Rome that Crassus would do whatever it took to win.

      As Spartacus headed south, Crassus and his army pursued. Spartacus sought to escape to Sicily but when he was betrayed by the pirates he had hired, he was trapped in the toe of Italy. Crassus built a barricade across the entire peninsula to lock them in. After two failed attempts to break through, time was running out for Spartacus.

      But time was running out for Crassus as well. Pompey was coming and when he arrived, as the senior General, he would take charge. If that happened, Pompey, not Crassus, would get any glory that came from the victory. Knowing this, Spartacus sought a negotiated settlement. But such a settlement would not serve Crassus’ need. He wanted all or nothing.

      When a third attempt to break the barricade succeeded, a mad dash across Italy ensued, Spartacus and his forces attempting to reach Brundisium, where they hoped to get passage out of Italy. Crassus’ forces were in pursuit and Pompey’s forces were getting ever closer. Finally Crassus was able to force the main body of Spartacus’ army into battle. Crassus’ victory was complete. Contrary to the movie, Spartacus died in the battle. Six thousand of the captured slaves were crucified along the Appian Way.

      But Crassus did not get the total glory that he had sought or that his victory had earned. Pompey had arrived on the scene just in time to clean up some of the stragglers from the battle. Militarily Pompey’s contribution was negligible. Politically, Pompey, already being very popular with the people, claimed and received half the glory of ‘saving Rome.’ Always seeking the best in any situation, Crassus formed an alliance with Pompey. The two commanders marched their armies back to Rome and together sought to be made consuls.

      This move violated a whole new series of traditions. But by this time what was Roman law had ceased to really matter. The only thing that really mattered was what one could actually get away with, at least as long as your side controlled the courts, and if they didn’t the law still didn’t really matter. But the idea of the Republic was still important, or at least useful, and so the facade of an election was maintained. The two sought, and/or bribed, the support they needed and were elected consul.

      Pompey’s base of power was in the plebs and true to his base he favored the Assembly over the Senate. Crassus, riding the wave of popularity, went along, though hedging a bit with the Senate should the tide of fortune change. Once in office they set about to undo Sulla’s reforms, including restoring power to the office that had caused such problems in the past, the Tribune of the Plebs.

      In Rome’s stroll into the desert, the Republic was by now well past the point of no return. While the facade of democracy remained, it was no more real than a Hollywood set, and a rundown set at that. In reality Rome was no longer ruled by a democratic vote of the people, but rather by powerful men who were the real powers behind the scenes. It was no longer governed by law and tradition, either. For these men, law and tradition were nothing more than tools to be manipulated in their quest for power.

      While the true power was behind the scenes, it was still fractured and divided. By the end of their consulship Pompey and Crassus were at odds with each other. But neither had amassed enough power to do without the other, nor were they the only power players in Rome.

      When their consulship ended both went their separate ways. Pompey’s power was grounded in his military successes, and so after taking on and disposing of the pirates that were troubling shipping, he set off to the east to quell some trouble that had arisen, and to conquer more territory, including the conquest and sack of the city of Jerusalem.

      Crassus, on the other hand, had his true base of power in his wealth, which was prodigious. Thus Crassus sought out and supported promising young men, helping them out in times of financial trouble, the most notable being a promising young nephew of Marius, Julius Caesar.

      Some, like Crassus, sought power for the wealth and security it brought. Some like Pompey were just so talented that they seemed to drift into power, as boats drifting in the current. With such men, a facade of democracy is certainly no hindrance and can actually be beneficial. So the democratic facade was allowed to continue. But it was only a facade and it would just be a matter of time until some new crisis, or some ambitious person came along to whom the facade was a hindrance. When that happened, it would be torn down completely.

      The first attempt occurred a few years later in 62 B.C. when another of Crassus’ promising investments, Catiline, became impatient with the pace of things and planned to simply seize power. His attempt failed, ending in Catiline’s death along with many of his supporters, though two of his known associates escaped formal implication, if not suspicion: Crassus and the young Caesar.

      In 60 B.C., Caesar, now a political force in his own right convinced Crassus and Pompey to settle their differences and the three of them formed an alliance of mutual support. Caesar lacked only one thing to make his power base complete: an Army. Unlike Catiline, Caesar was very patient, and used his power to secure command of an army in Gaul, modern day France. Over the next ten years while keeping a close eye on Rome, he led his army to victory in Gaul and even a brief excursion into Britain, earning himself the solid loyalty of his troops in the process.

      By the time Caesar’s military service in Gaul was up, the alliance of three had become two, Crassus having died. Pompey, with no real ambition, was not seen as a threat. But Caesar’s ambition was strong, and he planned to return and run for consul. He was a force to be reckoned with before, now he was a military force as well. His opponents feared he would be unstoppable. But there was one way to stop him.

      While