1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to cool People who did cool stuff. 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 2: You're the weekly reminder that I'm in a weird hole 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:11,959 Speaker 2: reading about the ancient world, and now you all are 5 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 2: in a weird hole listening to me talk about the 6 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 2: ancient world. I am your host, Margaret Kildroy and my 7 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 2: guest today who pays attention to the regular world, the 8 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 2: modern world, the postmodern world. It's Katie Stall. 9 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 3: That's me. 10 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 4: I pay her attention or to the postmodern world. It's 11 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 4: my official title. 12 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 2: Yeah. I love words that have so many meanings that 13 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:37,599 Speaker 2: you can't use them and expect people to understand what 14 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 2: you're saying. That's how I feel about postmodern in this context. 15 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:43,239 Speaker 2: Oh god, one day I'm going to do like a 16 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,560 Speaker 2: weird philosophy podcast for AM. Nope, anyway, stick with History. 17 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 3: Said the same thing last episode. You can do a spinoff, 18 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 3: you can do a one off spinoff. 19 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 4: You threw a whole side project, but then you've got 20 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 4: to create more content. 21 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 2: I know, and the promise. It's just like I just 22 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 2: want to know everything. I like deep diving new things. 23 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 2: And so this is the nice thing about History podcast 24 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 2: is I'm not running out of history anytime soon. 25 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 3: No, you got a pretty wide net. 26 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, even this week's subject, Spartacus. I've known I was 27 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 2: going to do Spartacus since the very beginning. I'm on 28 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 2: year like four four and a half. There's a bunch 29 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 2: of them, Like one day, I'm going to just take 30 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 2: like half a year and do Harriet Tubman because I'm 31 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 2: pretty convinced Harriet Tubman is like literally the coolest person 32 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 2: who's ever lived. 33 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 3: You should definitely do that. 34 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 2: But I haven't done Harriet Tubman yet because I'm like, 35 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 2: this is going to be like an eight partner or 36 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 2: maybe it'll just be a two parter. I don't know. 37 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 3: You got to start, but you never know what can 38 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 3: of worms you're opening. 39 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 2: I knew I know much like the can of worms 40 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,839 Speaker 2: of this episode about Spartacus and how it's not about 41 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 2: Spartacus and it's about the Servile Wars, but it's not 42 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 2: even about the wars. It's about the beautiful societies that 43 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 2: people can build in the cracks when terrible things are happening. 44 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 2: Because where we last left our heroes, they hadn't even 45 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,559 Speaker 2: been introduced yet, because it was just context about slavery 46 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 2: and the nightmare that is the ancient world. At least 47 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 2: in this part of the world. 48 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 3: So you definitely should listen to the first one first. 49 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 4: Yes, that should go without saying. 50 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 2: So there's three servile wars. They are called the First 51 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 2: Servile War, the Second Servile War, and you'll never guess 52 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 2: what the third Servile wars. Oh, no, I said it. 53 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 2: It's the Third Servile War. 54 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 4: Oh, you gave it to me. I'm sure I would 55 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 4: have come up with it, mabe, Yeah, creative naming. 56 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,959 Speaker 2: Yeah. The first two of these wars they lay a 57 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 2: sort of groundwork and history for people of well, if 58 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 2: you don't want to be enslaved, you can just kill 59 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 2: all the people who enslaved you. And that was an 60 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 2: important technological development. Obviously, there have been slave revolts before this, 61 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 2: and actually there was like whole big things. As long 62 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 2: as there's been people being like I own you, there's 63 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 2: people being like the fuck you do? 64 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 3: There have been people revolting. 65 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, But the first two of these Servile Wars 66 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 2: take place in Sicily, which is the big island that 67 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 2: if you imagine Italy as a boot, Sicily is the 68 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 2: football that it's kicking. It has really fertile soil and 69 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 2: it is very much a slave plantation island by the 70 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 2: middle of the second century BCE. They've actually only kind 71 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 2: of recently conquered this, I think during the Punic Wars. 72 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 2: But again, I don't think about this stuff on a 73 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 2: daily basis. I'm not certain Rome had a very specific 74 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 2: policy in place to make sure that enslaved people were 75 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,359 Speaker 2: transported really long distances so that they're far away from 76 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 2: home to break their morale. And the reason that that 77 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 2: gets pointed out about Sicily is that when they took Sicily, 78 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 2: they like enslaved half the island, right, Like Rome isn't 79 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 2: just a like we enslaved foreigners place. They're all like, man, 80 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 2: you lost a war. Ah, too bad, buddy, you're like 81 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 2: onto logically less than us now, oh yeah, which is 82 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 2: so funny because they really do have this attitude of 83 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 2: like enslaved people are like biologically inferior, even though it's 84 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 2: like clearly like, well, we just lost a war, like 85 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 2: that's how everyone gets anyway whatever. 86 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 4: I think that there's got to be something about just 87 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 4: the human brain to deal with different moral codes then too, 88 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 4: but you have to other them somehow totally. You have 89 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 4: to say like I can do this. It's like no, 90 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 4: they don't deserve what I have. 91 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, and so they wouldn't be like, all right, we 92 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 2: enslave Sicily and now you're all enslaved here. Instead they're like, 93 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:33,160 Speaker 2: all right, Gauls from France and Thracians from northern Greece 94 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 2: and Germans from Germania. That's where you live now is 95 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 2: on the football. I almost start Hacky Sack because doesn't 96 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 2: really look like a football. But I feel like people 97 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 2: don't play Hacky Sack anymore. So, but maybe I just 98 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 2: don't live on the West Coast. 99 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 3: I was just talking about Hackey Sack. No, we were 100 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 3: saying the same thing. 101 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 2: Oh no one plays it anymore. I don't think it's 102 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 2: a shame. I think it's just a thing that has 103 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 2: come and gone. 104 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 3: It's just a reality. 105 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,159 Speaker 4: I just saw somebody with a Hackey sack and that 106 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 4: sparked a convers Like those twenty. 107 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 2: Years, I wonder if there's going to be a revival 108 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 2: and all the like nineties kids are going to come 109 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 2: out and be like, my time has come. 110 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 3: This episode is brought to you by Hacky Sack, cat 111 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 3: out of the bag. 112 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, Sicily, the Hacky Sack of Europe. Yeah, all right, 113 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 2: so that's Sicily, and people are like, all right, if 114 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 2: we put foreigners here, it'll break the morale. Just kidding. 115 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:31,040 Speaker 2: People rebelled anyway, And the first two Servile Wars they're 116 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,720 Speaker 2: kind of run like their Romans. The people who are 117 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 2: doing the rebellion they are and I mean this sort 118 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 2: of pejoratively. They didn't really try to change the system, 119 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 2: just or place who had what position within that system. 120 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 2: At least that's the impression that I get and am 121 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 2: from reading certain historians. The First War, it was one 122 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 2: thirty five BCE, and there was this prophet or magician 123 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 2: or whatever from Syria, an enslaved guy named Unis. And 124 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 2: he had been named Unis, probably by the slave trader, 125 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 2: because Greek slaves sold for more, so they're like, here's 126 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 2: a Greek name Unis, And he was like, I don't 127 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 2: really have any say in this, do they. And he 128 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:15,160 Speaker 2: was owned by a rich guy, and he was enslaved domestically, 129 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 2: so we had a slightly nicer life like whatever. And 130 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 2: he would do fortune telling work for his owner, and 131 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 2: he would perform magic tricks like breathing fire, which I 132 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 2: guess he did by holding an ember within a like 133 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 2: walnut shell inside of his mouth and then like spitting 134 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 2: out ashes, which is kind of cool. 135 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's not a bad party trick. 136 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 2: And he had a bunch of prophecies handed down to 137 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 2: him by the goddess Attigartis from his homeland. One of 138 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 2: these prophecies was basically like, you're going to become the 139 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 2: king of Enna, which is the central city of Sicily, 140 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 2: which I think is where he lived. I don't think 141 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 2: it's the most important city, but it's like literally the 142 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 2: central one. It's in the middle. And so he's really 143 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 2: open about this. He tells his owner He's like, I'm 144 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 2: going to be king one day, and the guy is like, man, 145 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 2: this guy's so much fun to parties. I love having 146 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 2: this guy at parties. He's gonna tell him he's gonna 147 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 2: be king. It's gonna be so funny. And the whole time, 148 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 2: this guy's like, man, I'm gonna kill the shit out 149 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 2: of everyone in this room. So I actually have some 150 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 2: sympathy for this man. 151 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 4: I kind of like him, even though whatever, sure, I 152 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 4: mean so far. 153 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 2: And he would get asked by dinner guests how he 154 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 2: would run the place, and in some accounts the guests 155 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 2: who are nice to him, he was like, I will 156 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 2: spare you when I am king, and by those accounts, 157 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 2: he actually does spare those guests when he becomes king, 158 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 2: but not actually sure. Eventually he leads a slave rebellion 159 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 2: about four hundred or five thousand people free themselves, because 160 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 2: why would any numbers ever be consistent, and they massacre 161 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 2: the city of Anna. They kill all of the free 162 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 2: people except the smiths who could be forced to make 163 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 2: them weapons, like chained up and enslaved and forced to 164 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 2: make them weapons. And Eunus declared himself king or was 165 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 2: elected king, depends on again who you read. There's also 166 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 2: possibly a version where all of the histories about this 167 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 2: were written by people who hated enslaved people and hated 168 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 2: these rebellions, So he almost certainly was king, whether or 169 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 2: not he massacred everyone. He might have only masacred the 170 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 2: rich people, but I think he massacred all the free 171 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 2: people except the people he enslaved. And he immediately was 172 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 2: like I'm fucking king now, And he had coins made 173 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 2: with his likeness, which is that like coins are that 174 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,439 Speaker 2: new thing, you know, like we're talking about it, and 175 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 2: if you listen to part one you would know what 176 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 2: I'm talking about. 177 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 4: Yeah, you would, you should probably do that if you 178 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 4: don't know what she's talking about. 179 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, what are you even doing. 180 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 4: It's a big part of the first episode. 181 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, another city rebelled and took control of itself and 182 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 2: they swore allegiance to Unus. Rome tried to smash the 183 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 2: rebellion but lost bad and the rebels took most of 184 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 2: Sicily and they held it for a couple of years. 185 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 2: Rome eventually retook it in one thirty two, and over 186 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 2: the course of two different victories, so three years later, yeah, 187 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 2: three years later. They held it for about three years. 188 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:12,319 Speaker 2: Then Rome retook it and crucified about eighteen thousand people. Oh, 189 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 2: they were really into crucifying people. 190 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 3: Unice. I'm assuming Unis was one of them. 191 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 2: Oh shit, I actually can't remember how Unus died. I 192 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:21,839 Speaker 2: get him mixed up with one of the kings from 193 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 2: the second rebellion. One of them dies ill in captivity 194 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 2: later and it might be Unis, but I can't remember. 195 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 4: We'll find out when we find out. 196 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, so people in Sicily and slave people are like, oh, 197 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 2: we can just like do that sometimes though. So about 198 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 2: a generation later, in one oh four BCE, there's this 199 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 2: thing that happens where I think this is really funny. 200 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 2: I first wrote this very hand wavy, when I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, 201 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 2: Rome did some fockery, But then I learned what the 202 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 2: fuckery was, and I think this is hilarious. Rome asked 203 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 2: one of its allies for soldiers, and the ally was like, 204 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 2: I can't give you any soldiers because you enslaved all 205 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,719 Speaker 2: my dudes because they didn't pay taxes to you. And 206 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 2: so Rome was like, oh shit, sorry about that. I'll 207 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 2: tell you what. We'll set all your dudes free so 208 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 2: that they can be cannon fodder and die for us. 209 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 2: And when I say dudes, it's actually people of all genders. 210 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 2: But in this case, the soldier's part was, you know, dudes. 211 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 4: The people that they want. I assume they're not asking 212 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:27,839 Speaker 4: the women, the female slaves. 213 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 2: To to go be soldiers. 214 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 4: Yeah, cannon fodder. 215 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 2: Yeah. And so a bunch of people got freed. The 216 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:36,959 Speaker 2: Senate made this decree that all of these people from 217 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 2: a couple different places were now free. But the governor 218 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 2: of Sicily started freeing some people and then was like, 219 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 2: oh shit, wait, no, this is going to piss off 220 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,960 Speaker 2: the landowners. Nah, I don't care what Rome has to 221 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 2: say I'm not freeing anybody. And so these people who 222 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 2: had been freed are like, no, just kidding, You're unfree again. 223 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 2: And so people are like the fuck fuck all this, 224 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 2: and they rebel and both the people who wore to 225 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 2: be free and other people were like, well, he got free, 226 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 2: how come I gonna get free? 227 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 4: You wanted soldiers, They're just not going to be on 228 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 4: your team. 229 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, And this time it's not just dudes. This 230 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 2: is the one that I can point to and say 231 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 2: that women and men fought alike in the second servile 232 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 2: of war. They probably fought in the other two as well, 233 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 2: but this is the one where we have historians admitting 234 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 2: that women were part of the fighting. And they elected 235 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 2: another fortune teller as their king, a guy named Salvius. 236 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 2: For several years, they smashed every Roman army that landed 237 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 2: on the island. But in one oh one again, after 238 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 2: three years, more troops landed and they systematically slaughtered everyone 239 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 2: they found as traders in the rebels, midst opened the 240 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 2: city gates for the enemy. 241 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 4: Seems like three years is how long it takes for 242 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,959 Speaker 4: them to get their act together and transport people. 243 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: I know. 244 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,559 Speaker 2: The third one is going to be three years too. Oh, 245 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 2: I don't remember, it's just the second and third. There's 246 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 2: like other shit going on where Rome is always fighting 247 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,679 Speaker 2: at the borders, and so these are a little bit 248 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 2: timed to be like Rome's busy, let's do this shit. Yeah, 249 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 2: And so it takes them a while to get their 250 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,559 Speaker 2: shit together. They actually try several times to stop them 251 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 2: ahead of time, and all of these people lose political favor. 252 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 2: Most of the writing we have about it is from 253 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 2: the point of view of the dudes who are sent 254 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:21,319 Speaker 2: to go put down the rebellion, like the various senators 255 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,599 Speaker 2: and shit or whatever. But I hate those people, so 256 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:25,200 Speaker 2: I'm mostly not going to talk about them. I'm going 257 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:26,079 Speaker 2: to talk about one at. 258 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 3: The end, yeah, fuck them. 259 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. And so a lot of them are losing and 260 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 2: everyone's like, aha, fuck you, you lost. I am going 261 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 2: to go put them down and become the hero of Rome, 262 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 2: you know. And it was actually a big deal because 263 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 2: a lot of the food for Rome was grown on Sicily, 264 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 2: so it was a very verd and TACKI sec and 265 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 2: if you're listening to here in Sicily, I'm kind of sorry, 266 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 2: but only a little bit. But anyways, eventually they do 267 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,320 Speaker 2: crush this army. And although it's implied in the histories 268 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 2: that I've read that it is once again kind of 269 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,720 Speaker 2: a like, all right, I'm king now, and actually the 270 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:02,240 Speaker 2: original king like dies in battle, which is a reasonably 271 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 2: noble thing for a king to do if you're gonna 272 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 2: lead a rebellion, and then someone else comes and is 273 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 2: leading it when they lose. But the way that they 274 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:11,840 Speaker 2: end up going out at the end was like kind 275 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 2: of this beautiful last slave rebellion. A thousand of them 276 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,559 Speaker 2: were captured and sent to Rome, and they were meant 277 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 2: to die in the gladiatorial arena, being killed by various 278 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:27,360 Speaker 2: beasts for the entertainment of the crowd. And so what 279 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 2: they did instead, according to the histories, which there's no 280 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:32,640 Speaker 2: reason to believe them, and there's no reason to disbelieve them. 281 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 4: We're neutral about the histories, yeah, honestly, Like, but it's 282 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 4: great assault. 283 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, And what they did is they went out onto 284 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 2: the sands of the arena and then one by one, 285 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 2: quietly and unperformatively killed each other. Like one guy stabs 286 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 2: the guy next to him and then is stabbed by 287 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 2: the next guy. Inline thousand people do this until the 288 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 2: last guy falls on his own sword. Wow, And so 289 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 2: they're like, there will be no entertainment for this crowd. 290 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 2: So it's like one last like, we will not do 291 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,439 Speaker 2: this for you. I think that's real beautiful. 292 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 4: It's dark, but it's incredibly beautiful, poetic, heartbreaking, brave. 293 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 2: I know. And just like coming from a like we 294 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 2: opened up the first one being like, oh, nothing ever changes, 295 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 2: I'm like, I think that the way that humans have 296 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 2: related to death has changed fundamentally in ways that make 297 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 2: us slightly more cowardly and less likely to do really 298 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 2: beautiful and noble things. 299 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 4: Well, gosh, this could be its own podcast side quest, 300 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 4: but absolutely we talk about death wrong, We think about 301 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 4: death wrong. 302 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 3: We literally delay. 303 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 4: We've extended our lifespan so long that we're distracted by 304 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 4: everything all the time. People back then understood the value 305 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 4: of their life and how short it is. I would 306 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 4: imagine in a way that we don't and confront death 307 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 4: more often. That's really what it is. You see it 308 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 4: viscerally more often. We ship people off to hospitals and 309 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 4: homes and anyway. 310 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's genuinely hard to imagine being in this position, 311 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 2: not just because it's so unique to its time period, 312 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 2: but like, it's hard to imagine. And maybe that's because 313 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 2: of the relative position, the privilege that I live in 314 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 2: in that like when I am around death, it's I 315 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 2: don't know, before I think about this, you know what 316 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 2: I like thinking about. 317 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 3: Oh we're not talking about that right now. 318 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, No, I was just gonna instead entirely, wildly 319 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 2: inappropriately cut doads and we're back. So that's the second 320 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 2: servile Warren. In both of these revolts, as best as 321 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 2: I can tell, they didn't really try to upend social 322 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 2: values besides slavery, and at least the first one, I 323 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 2: actually had no problem in slaving free people. 324 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 4: It wanted to Okay, well, in theory, you're still okay 325 00:15:58,400 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 4: with the slavery as long as it's. 326 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 2: Not you, okay, right. I know a little bit less 327 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 2: about the second one, and I want to believe I 328 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 2: don't know whatever. And I'm also like not mad at 329 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 2: the first one either, Like I understand why someone's like 330 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 2: I get it. Yeah. 331 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 3: Also, different time period by a lot, okay. 332 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, And most people, most of the historians are saying 333 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 2: that these people were running around massacring people in both 334 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 2: of these because the idea that war involved the mass 335 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 2: rape and murder of civilians seem to be very much intact. 336 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 2: And I don't know whether they are tyrannical or not. 337 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 2: I don't know exactly everything about them. I know very 338 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 2: little about them, but that seemed to be still the case. 339 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 2: And again, it's fine, but they're just context for the 340 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 2: third one. Because the third one stands out so strongly 341 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 2: for how it behaved, it's hard to learn about the 342 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 2: stuff because all the contemporary sources hated these rebels. Modern 343 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 2: historians tend to get lost in the ins and outs 344 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 2: of the strategy and war, and they don't discuss the 345 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 2: social environment. But it certainly implied in what I read 346 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 2: that these weren't radical, transforming societies, but instead switching who 347 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 2: ruled and who died, which leads us to the Third 348 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 2: Servile War, which is different. But first I want to 349 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 2: talk about gladiators, because the third one was started by gladiators. 350 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,120 Speaker 2: You know much about gladiators? No, he do you ever 351 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:17,920 Speaker 2: watch Gladiator? 352 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 3: The movie Gladiator? Mel Gibson. 353 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 2: I don't think that was Mel Gibson. That was some 354 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:23,640 Speaker 2: other MANH. 355 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, I wasn't. I'm just saying things. 356 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:28,919 Speaker 4: It was almost certainly some other man Russell Crowe. Russell Crowe, 357 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,640 Speaker 4: I do confuse them a lot. Yeah, No, I'm sure 358 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:33,320 Speaker 4: I saw it. 359 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 2: It's fine. It's like clearly loosely based on Spartacus, but 360 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,719 Speaker 2: with this totally different like vibe. The guy's like Roman 361 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 2: and and honestly is the kind of thing that a 362 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:45,879 Speaker 2: Roman would have written where it was like, oh, of 363 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:47,960 Speaker 2: course this guy can lead. He is noble, for he 364 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:48,679 Speaker 2: is Romance. 365 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 4: He is noble, he has got that good blood. 366 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, because they're literally going to do this to Spartacus. 367 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 2: Spartacus was probably Thracian, but then they're like going to 368 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 2: talk about him like, well, he was basically Greek, you know, 369 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 2: because they really want him to be Greek because they 370 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 2: want to be like. 371 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 4: I want to claim him. 372 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 2: Yeah, even though he's like bad, but he's clearly like competent, 373 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 2: Like Spartacus is a very competent war leader. So gladiators, 374 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,120 Speaker 2: the ritual of gladiatorial combat comes out of the Italian 375 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,719 Speaker 2: history of killing prisoners and enslaved people at the funeral 376 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,919 Speaker 2: pire of important people, you know, that normal thing that 377 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,919 Speaker 2: you do. And there's a couple of things I've read 378 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 2: that sort of contradict each other about whether or not 379 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 2: it's started with enslaved people who are being forced to 380 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,360 Speaker 2: fight to the death. Or it's possible that even though 381 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,159 Speaker 2: it was replacing the killing of enslaved people in convicts, 382 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 2: it was actually free people who were fighting not necessarily 383 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,199 Speaker 2: to the death for money, but they might die, right, 384 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 2: because those are the two kind of vibes of gladiatorial combat. 385 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 2: Right by two sixty four BCE, so two hundred years 386 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 2: before today's story, you have gladiatorial exhibitions in Rome, and 387 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 2: soon enough, when you died, if you were an important 388 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 2: piece of shit, you would set aside money to pay 389 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 2: for the gladiatorial exhibitions at your funeral, and these get 390 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 2: bigger and bigger until they're like, all right, we've got 391 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 2: to do these all the time. We can't just wait 392 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 2: for people to die. We got to make people die. 393 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 2: Gladiators were mostly unfree people. They were captives, they were 394 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:19,159 Speaker 2: enslaved people, they were condemned prisoners, and occasionally you have 395 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:23,679 Speaker 2: these freeborn citizens who are like, I want fame and 396 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 2: glory and celebrity and riches, because you do get paid 397 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,720 Speaker 2: for these fights, but if you're enslaved, it goes to 398 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,120 Speaker 2: the person who owns you. You know, right. And if 399 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:38,120 Speaker 2: you're condemned to gladiatorial combat as a prisoner, there's two versions. 400 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,879 Speaker 2: There's two different verdicts that get you here. One is 401 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,159 Speaker 2: you're condemned to die within a year, where they're like 402 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 2: gonna make sure you die in the ring, or if 403 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 2: you're lucky, you would be released if you survived three 404 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,199 Speaker 2: years of combat. Wow, And this doesn't mean you have 405 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 2: to win every fight. Most of these are not death matches. 406 00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 3: You got to survive them, though. 407 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 2: Yeah, who are the Roman knights and senators and women 408 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:05,360 Speaker 2: all fought in the later arena? 409 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 3: Really? 410 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,640 Speaker 2: Yeah? Equality, I know, And this is one of those 411 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:12,640 Speaker 2: things where I'm like, I want to know everything about 412 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,680 Speaker 2: women gladiators. Was this enslaved people was as prisoners where 413 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 2: they are like whole gladiatorial schools of women who were 414 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,240 Speaker 2: like fuck, yeah, we're all free and doing weird girl 415 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:23,960 Speaker 2: boss murder. I don't know. 416 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,760 Speaker 3: I definitely want to see this movie, though. 417 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 2: I know. I love when you read a book and 418 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 2: you're like, well, that's one word in a sentence that 419 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 2: I want an entire book about. 420 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 3: Right, let's just drill down into that first. But Okay, 421 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 3: a lot. 422 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:42,399 Speaker 2: Of the sources in the show notes are about gladiatorial combat. 423 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 2: As I was trying to write my head around parts 424 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 2: of it. Gladiators were kept in schools, Some were owned 425 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 2: by the schools and rented out for exhibitions. Well. Others 426 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 2: were basically stabled there by their rich owners, kind of 427 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 2: like how people keep horses. Yeah, and I've read a 428 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 2: lot of contradictory stuff about the arena and gladiatorial combat 429 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 2: and about how brutal it was and wasn't, And I 430 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,119 Speaker 2: suspect it looks different at different times. I've read stuff 431 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 2: that implies that the later arena is like kind of sports, 432 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 2: you know, only people die more often, but like not 433 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:20,200 Speaker 2: every time, like Nascar with the flipant of the cars. 434 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,119 Speaker 4: Right right where people will go and they're like, I 435 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 4: know it's dangerous and I might see something, but by 436 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 4: no means is it a necessary outcome of the event? 437 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 2: Right, Because keeping gladiators fed was expensive and like trained in. 438 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 4: All your investment, you're throwing it away. If you've got 439 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 4: a good gladiator and you've got these people doing entertaining, 440 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 4: you don't want to just kill them every time. 441 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 2: And so you would have these like referees to make 442 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 2: sure the fight was fair. Who would make sure that 443 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,680 Speaker 2: the swords were sharp. I love the past. It's totally 444 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 2: a good place. So there's six hundred and fifty years 445 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 2: of gladiatorial combat, and that is longer than white people 446 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,439 Speaker 2: have been in North America. So you're talking about a 447 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 2: big stretch of time. So of course it's different in 448 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 2: different ways. And in a way it was sort of 449 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 2: a replacement for human sacrifice. This is my own inference, 450 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,399 Speaker 2: to be clear, But I bet you want to know 451 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 2: about Roman human sacrifice. But boy, howdi did I read 452 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,520 Speaker 2: about it? Because I've actually been reading about it for 453 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 2: a couple of weeks. The propaganda against gall and a 454 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 2: bunch of other places that Rome wanted to conquer mirrors 455 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:30,159 Speaker 2: modern Islamophobia so perfectly. It's like they have terrible things 456 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 2: and they hate freedom, and you know, they all do 457 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 2: human sacrifice and whatever the fuck right, Because Rome banned 458 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,919 Speaker 2: human sacrifice at home and in the colonies in ninety 459 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 2: seven BCE, and pretty much right away, this was used 460 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,919 Speaker 2: as the excuse for colonial conquest. As I've talked about before, 461 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 2: the actual point of the conquest was to capture loot 462 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 2: and slaves and eventually tax people, but this was a 463 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:56,960 Speaker 2: moral spin to put on it. 464 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:58,160 Speaker 3: It's the dog whistle. 465 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 2: Yeah, they got a lot of oil, were there, But 466 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 2: I swear it's about the human sacrifice, you know, not 467 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:03,720 Speaker 2: literally oil in this country. 468 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 4: Yeah, don't ask me too many questions about our history 469 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:07,880 Speaker 4: of human sacrifice. 470 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,720 Speaker 2: These are the Heathen right. Literally, twenty years before this, 471 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,120 Speaker 2: they were burying a ton of people alive, but. 472 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 3: Shorter life spans back then, some people might have. 473 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 2: Forgotten, and so everyone that the Romans didn't like was 474 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,159 Speaker 2: accused of human sacrifice, which almost everyone was doing. So 475 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,679 Speaker 2: the accusations were true, but the Romans really liked burying 476 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 2: foreigners alive. There's just like all of these cases where 477 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 2: they're like, oh, we got a couple of goals and 478 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:35,919 Speaker 2: they like to bury them in couples, like men and 479 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 2: women together. Wow, yeah, just bury them alive. 480 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 3: What hell, horror. 481 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 2: This is the thing that expanded and slowly conquered the 482 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 2: world and brought its values everywhere. It is. 483 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 4: I don't know why we're so fucked still though, Okay. 484 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 2: I can't figure it out. By eighty BCE, seventeen years 485 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 2: after human sacrifice being banned, the Colosseum opened in Rome, 486 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:57,440 Speaker 2: which is frankly one of the most impressive buildings I've 487 00:23:57,440 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 2: ever seen in my life before that they were in 488 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 2: the public square, but they built this whole beautiful, terrible 489 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 2: thing so that people could fight lions and shit. And 490 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 2: once it's more slaves and convicts going, more people start dying, 491 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,919 Speaker 2: right because you know, the convicts are expected to die 492 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:14,959 Speaker 2: in things. The last games were in four oh four 493 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 2: AD and they were banned pretty much now that Rome 494 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:19,920 Speaker 2: was Christian, and also because they were expensive as fuck. 495 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 2: There's a lot of ins and outs of gladiatorial combat. 496 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 2: There's like basically like character classes where there's common types 497 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,479 Speaker 2: of fighters, where you get specific people with specific weapon 498 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,360 Speaker 2: and armor combos and so like. People will be like, oh, 499 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 2: it's going to be a Thracian versus Amerodidon or whatever 500 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:37,920 Speaker 2: the fuck. So I bet if they do this one 501 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,199 Speaker 2: move it'll work really well because people really nerd it 502 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:41,959 Speaker 2: out about sports. 503 00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, well, but people have been nerding out about sports 504 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:45,960 Speaker 4: since forever as we can. 505 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 2: See, yep. And so the Third Servile War it's going 506 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 2: to kick off just seven years after the Colisseum opens 507 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 2: along the west edge of southern Italy, not down in 508 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 2: the toe but more like the top of the of 509 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 2: the boot. If someone's wearing that like mid length boot. 510 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 2: You have a city called Capua, and it had been 511 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,400 Speaker 2: in Rome's sphere of influence for centuries at that point, 512 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,239 Speaker 2: and there was a gladiatorial school there, and in that 513 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 2: gladiatorial school there were enslaved gladiators, and about two hundred 514 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 2: of them started scheming. But to introduce you to the 515 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 2: most famous of these folks, you've got a man named Spartacus. 516 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,919 Speaker 2: We don't know much about him. He was almost certainly 517 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 2: from a nomadic tribe in Thrace, like northern Greece. The 518 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 2: most fleshed out version of the backstory that I've heard 519 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,439 Speaker 2: is that he served in the Roman army, but then 520 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 2: he deserts and becomes a bandit, and then he was 521 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 2: captured and he was sold into slavery alongside his wife, 522 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:51,199 Speaker 2: who herself was a seer or a magician, or a 523 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 2: sous saith or a prophetess. And the history doesn't have 524 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 2: her name, so typical, why would we bother to write 525 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 2: about this? In fact, it took me a very long 526 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 2: time to find that he had a wife. 527 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 4: This incredibly fascinating detail of which I have so many questions. 528 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:06,680 Speaker 4: Nothing written, Okay. 529 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 2: I know, and like she's with him the whole time too, 530 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 2: And I have a fan theory about the end of 531 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 2: all of this and the fact that he's going to 532 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,760 Speaker 2: do this whole rebellion alongside his wife rules and we 533 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 2: don't know shit besides that. But one day, while he 534 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 2: was waiting to be sold, a snake curled up and 535 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 2: slept on his face. Ooh, I believe he was sleeping too. 536 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,639 Speaker 2: And his wife sees this and declares it an omen 537 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:35,439 Speaker 2: that he would become powerful and influence world events. And 538 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 2: considering that we are talking about him more than two 539 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 2: thousand years later. 540 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:40,960 Speaker 3: I'd say she was right. 541 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, she's onto something. Because he had military experience, he 542 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:48,919 Speaker 2: got sold to this school. The presumption is that his 543 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 2: wife was like, all right, him and his wife, I 544 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 2: don't know whatever she goes to. And in that school, 545 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 2: two hundred slaves got to talking like, maybe we shouldn't 546 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:01,879 Speaker 2: kill and die for the entertainment of people who own us. 547 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 2: Maybe that's a bad deal. Maybe we should try something else, 548 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 2: Maybe we should fight our real enemies. Most of these 549 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 2: folks were Gauls from modern France, and some were Germans 550 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 2: from Germania, and some of them are Thracian, and some 551 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,879 Speaker 2: of them are Greek, although there's a chance that he 552 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:24,639 Speaker 2: wasn't actually Thracian like from Thrace, but instead Thracian was 553 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,880 Speaker 2: also like a gladiator class, the gladiators who fought with 554 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,600 Speaker 2: the Thracian style, which was a big crested helmet and 555 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 2: a small shield and a little small curved blade called 556 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:40,440 Speaker 2: a sika and then like grieves and a loincloth. That's 557 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:45,679 Speaker 2: a Thracian in the gladiator ring. So it's possible that 558 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,240 Speaker 2: he's a Thracian from Thrace, and that's what most historians say. 559 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,159 Speaker 2: And then there's one historian that was like, yeah, that 560 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,119 Speaker 2: might just be what he fought. Be like, I'm from 561 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:58,920 Speaker 2: the quarterback region of the world, you know, and the 562 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,680 Speaker 2: rebellion is discuss but instead of accepting their fate, they 563 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:07,400 Speaker 2: go for it, and seventy four or seventy eight gladiators succeed. 564 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 2: I don't know what happened to the other one hundred 565 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 2: and something. 566 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 3: That's it. 567 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:12,639 Speaker 2: Yeah, the impression is that only seventy four or seventy 568 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 2: eight of them go for it, and the other ones 569 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,360 Speaker 2: are like, oh, never mind, but I don't know. They 570 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:23,640 Speaker 2: raid the kitchen for cleavers and spits, and they fight 571 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:25,880 Speaker 2: their way out of the school and out to freedom 572 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 2: with fucking kitchen utensils. And they immediately waylay a delivery 573 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,399 Speaker 2: of gladiatorial equipment. So now they have all the like 574 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,880 Speaker 2: wacky armor like nets and tridents and shit, and they 575 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:38,280 Speaker 2: are off to the races. 576 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 4: Well, yeah, you've got a bunch of trained warriors that 577 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 4: you have enslaved or are abusing. 578 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 3: What do you the fuck do you think? 579 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 2: What do you think is gonna happen? What? 580 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, you gave them everything they needed. 581 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 2: H I know, surprised this doesn't happen more. Yeah, they 582 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 2: elected three military leaders from Amongks themselves, probably to represent 583 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 2: the different ethnicities of fighters, at least that's one thing 584 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 2: I read. But I read other things that completely deny this. 585 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:11,400 Speaker 2: You have Spartacus who was probably Thracian. There's Onimas who 586 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 2: was Greek, and Crixus, who is German or none of 587 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 2: that's true. 588 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 3: Or yeah, to the best of our knowledge. 589 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:22,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, Roman historians mostly focused on Spartacus, and even though 590 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 2: all of the people who wrote about him hated him, 591 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 2: they still kind of had to hand it to him 592 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 2: because he was tactically very successful, and so they write 593 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 2: about how he wasn't a normal Barbarian. He was smart, 594 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:37,040 Speaker 2: he was more like a Greek than a Thracian. And 595 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,600 Speaker 2: there's this revolt and just tens of thousands or hundreds 596 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 2: of thousands of people start flocking to it over the 597 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 2: next you guessed it three years. Yeah, And importantly it's 598 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:53,240 Speaker 2: both self emancipated enslaved people and it's free people from 599 00:29:53,240 --> 00:30:00,040 Speaker 2: the working poor, because these people are discovering intersectionality and 600 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 2: are like, what if instead of killing all those people 601 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 2: were on the same side as them. 602 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 4: And they're also starting to see the pattern of how 603 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 4: fucked up their society is strengthen numbers. Also, they're the 604 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:12,240 Speaker 4: ones with the weapons and the training. 605 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, and there doesn't seem to be the same stories 606 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 2: of mass slaughter about this uprising. The most anti slave 607 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 2: authors did throw in some digs that modern historians are 608 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 2: skeptical of, like there's this whole thing where at one 609 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 2: of their funerals they made a bunch of Roman soldiers 610 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 2: fight to the death, But that was only in one account, 611 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:34,440 Speaker 2: and it was in the account that is like the 612 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 2: most accused of just making shit up. 613 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 4: I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some 614 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 4: amount of it. But also everything is grain as salt totally. 615 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 2: While the uprising is growing, the local Kapuin government sends 616 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,440 Speaker 2: out a hasty militia of a few thousand people, and 617 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:53,600 Speaker 2: the rebels just smashed the shit out of it. This 618 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:55,880 Speaker 2: is before they have hundreds of thousands of people. That's eventually, 619 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 2: And it's not just fighters who are part of this revolt. 620 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 2: I think this is part of why some of the 621 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 2: numbers are muddy. The implication is that women largely didn't fight, 622 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 2: but there were women and children and disabled folks who 623 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 2: were all part of this rebellion, helping make it happen. 624 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 2: Because obviously an army marches on its stomach, and you know, 625 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:18,560 Speaker 2: the logistics and the care and all of these things 626 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 2: are just as important. And instead of having a king 627 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 2: and a kingdom, the rebels start sharing all the spoils 628 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:31,280 Speaker 2: of war equally, and this brings even more people out. 629 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 2: But they took things even more radical than that. Specifically, 630 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,440 Speaker 2: no one kept money. 631 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,720 Speaker 3: Hmm, all those coinage gone. 632 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 2: They fucking hate coins. All the precious metals and coins 633 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 2: that they capture they immediately trade away for supplies for 634 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,200 Speaker 2: the common good. So like you go to a raid 635 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 2: or you fight the army, that's trying to kill you, 636 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 2: and you kill them all or drive them away or 637 00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 2: whatever the fuck you got. All this stuff you keep, 638 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 2: all the weapons in armor, all the food, all the 639 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 2: stuff you can use, and the stuff that is only 640 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 2: abstractly valuable they don't use, and instead they immediately trade 641 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 2: away for stuff that they can use. Most of these 642 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 2: people have been from far away lands, and they've been 643 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,760 Speaker 2: captured from places where coinage is new and distrusted and 644 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 2: seen as this like weapon of their enemy. People are 645 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 2: aware of how coinage made the rich richer and the 646 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 2: powerful more powerful. 647 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: So. 648 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 2: They probably didn't like it. This is historians inferring there's 649 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 2: no one who wrote like Spartacus said, we hate money, 650 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 2: you know. 651 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:35,600 Speaker 3: Right. 652 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 2: Meanwhile, Rome got three thousand poorly trained soldiers together in 653 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 2: a hurry and throw them against Spartacus because they're busy 654 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 2: with wars elsewhere. And the Roman soldiers they laid siege 655 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 2: to the rebels on the mountaintop. This is again when 656 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 2: they're still just getting going and there's only one way 657 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:54,400 Speaker 2: up to the top of this mountaintop and they block 658 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 2: it off and they're like, hahaha, we've got those gladiators 659 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 2: right where we want them, but the crafty gladiators and 660 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 2: their friends got crafty and they made ladders out of 661 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:07,960 Speaker 2: the vines on the mountain, and then they climbed down, 662 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:09,640 Speaker 2: and then a guy up on top like threw all 663 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 2: the weapons down to them because they didn't climb with 664 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,719 Speaker 2: all the weapons, and then the dude climbed down himself 665 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 2: at the end of it. And then they came back 666 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,760 Speaker 2: around and surrounded the enemy and scared the enemy away, 667 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 2: and they all ran and left all the loot. So 668 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 2: now they have even more weapons, and they do apparently 669 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,480 Speaker 2: ditch all the gladiator weapons right away. They're like these suck. 670 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 2: Fuck they're too cumbersome. Yeah, like fuck fighting with a trident, Yeah, 671 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 2: this is the war. I want a Gladius or whatever 672 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,719 Speaker 2: the fuck nice in a pinch, but yeah, yeah, totally, 673 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,800 Speaker 2: you're fighting a lion. Maybe a trident and a net 674 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 2: is okay, you know. Then Rome sends another force, which 675 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 2: for whatever reason, Rome splits into two historians who like 676 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 2: doing the blow by blow or like, and then this 677 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:52,720 Speaker 2: was dumb, and then they split their force into two, 678 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:54,680 Speaker 2: and so the rebels just like beat one and then 679 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 2: the other, and they started riding around and doing banditry 680 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:00,760 Speaker 2: or liberation, and depending on. 681 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:02,680 Speaker 3: Who's who's telling the story. 682 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:08,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, but people from these towns tended to join on Moss, 683 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 2: so they're not running around massacring. They're running around being like, yo, 684 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:14,640 Speaker 2: it's up. You hate this system, and they're like, we 685 00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:17,799 Speaker 2: do hate this system. Yeah, And you get a lot 686 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:20,960 Speaker 2: of shepherds with horses, and suddenly they've got fucking cavalry 687 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,600 Speaker 2: and they have sixty thousand soldiers or seventy thousand soldiers 688 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:26,279 Speaker 2: or one hundred and forty thousand soldiers or two. 689 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,239 Speaker 3: Hundred and eighty townsend you're talking to. 690 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:32,600 Speaker 2: I know, reading ancient shit is funny. They've got a 691 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:35,080 Speaker 2: lot of people, and they begin to control whole wide 692 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:38,520 Speaker 2: areas of southern Italy, and the next two things I 693 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:41,840 Speaker 2: want to talk about. I'm a little bit blurry between 694 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:43,640 Speaker 2: these two things. There's a war, part of the war 695 00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:46,720 Speaker 2: where they're fighting, and there's also this society that they build. 696 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 2: And I can't promise you exactly when all of these 697 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 2: things are interrelating and how often the troops are home 698 00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 2: during this rebellion. I don't know exactly time wise what's happening, 699 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:04,000 Speaker 2: because literally every historian but one that I have found 700 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,840 Speaker 2: is only concerned with the war part. I'm more interested 701 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 2: in the society part. Do you know what makes us 702 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 2: a society a society? Besides stuttering podcasts? It is podcasts. 703 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:20,520 Speaker 2: You can't have civilization. That is how people define civilization 704 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,560 Speaker 2: is the existence of podcasts. And do you know what 705 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:25,000 Speaker 2: makes podcasts possible? 706 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:26,360 Speaker 3: Podcasters? 707 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 2: That's true? And do you know what allows them to 708 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 2: eat food and feed their dogs? 709 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:31,920 Speaker 3: Coins? 710 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:37,799 Speaker 2: It is it's coinage stamped with our imperial rulers, like, 711 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 2: for example, the one dollar bill, where there's a man 712 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,480 Speaker 2: who stole the teeth out of enslaved people and put 713 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:43,799 Speaker 2: them in his own face. 714 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,640 Speaker 3: For example, that hero. Yeah, that American hero. 715 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:55,279 Speaker 2: And here's some ads erback back. 716 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 4: No, I was just muttering to myself about AI four fathers, 717 00:35:58,800 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 4: fuck this place. 718 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 2: We're back, we are back. There was a city called 719 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,680 Speaker 2: Thurye and it's kind of in the arch of the 720 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:11,560 Speaker 2: foot at the boot of Italy. This has been a 721 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:13,360 Speaker 2: very useful metaphor for me. 722 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:16,520 Speaker 4: I pulled up the picture of Italy, so every time 723 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:17,680 Speaker 4: you do this, I'm looking at it. 724 00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:18,600 Speaker 3: I'm like, uh huh, yep. 725 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:22,279 Speaker 2: Yeah. And it had actually been started as an Athenian 726 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:24,520 Speaker 2: colony a few hundred years earlier, but it had been 727 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,040 Speaker 2: Roman for a while by the year seventy two BCE, 728 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:31,600 Speaker 2: when the rebels took the city, and even the historians 729 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 2: who kind of hated Spartacus admitted they did not slaughter 730 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:38,680 Speaker 2: the town. They formed a new society there that included 731 00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 2: its original inhabitants, which is has got to be wild. 732 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,359 Speaker 2: You're just like a poor person hanging out and you're 733 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:46,839 Speaker 2: like small town on the coast, and then you're like, oh, 734 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:54,080 Speaker 2: here's seventy thousand armed rebels, warriors rebels. Yeah, well, but honestly, 735 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:55,640 Speaker 2: life's better now that they're here. 736 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:56,920 Speaker 3: And they're not trying to enslave me. 737 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:01,959 Speaker 2: Yeah. And there's there's three things we know about this town. 738 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:08,520 Speaker 2: One they rejected money, like we talked about. Two, they 739 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:11,840 Speaker 2: didn't have leaders, and the third one is no sexual violence. 740 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:15,600 Speaker 2: But we're going to talk about number two first, because 741 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:20,240 Speaker 2: Spartacus and the other generals were military leaders, not political leaders, 742 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:22,360 Speaker 2: and there's either three or five of them. I suspect 743 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:26,400 Speaker 2: it changed over time. People talk about two kinds of power. 744 00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:30,319 Speaker 2: You have justified leadership. There's a quote that I think 745 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:33,000 Speaker 2: is from Bakunin that's something like to keep with his 746 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:35,960 Speaker 2: boot metaphor. In matters of boot making, I refer to 747 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:40,360 Speaker 2: the authority of the cobbler, right, that's a form of authority. 748 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 2: Justified leadership, to quote the author Christopher Zeikman, is quote 749 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,800 Speaker 2: the power to organize people who voluntarily follow, as compared 750 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:55,000 Speaker 2: to inherent power over other people. Justified leadership is voluntarily accepted, situational, 751 00:37:55,320 --> 00:38:01,239 Speaker 2: and limited to specialist expertise. So if I'm going off 752 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:04,640 Speaker 2: to war, maybe the general is in charge of that, because. 753 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,720 Speaker 3: I would think so, yeah, I'm not generally. 754 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:10,279 Speaker 2: Yeah no, and it's not for me. It's someone who 755 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:13,759 Speaker 2: plays infinite amounts of strategy video games who's going to 756 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:15,879 Speaker 2: be in charge. It's going to be fine. 757 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:17,800 Speaker 4: Yeah, oh yeah, I would trust them for sure. 758 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,800 Speaker 2: The only thing like laws that they had in thirty 759 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:27,520 Speaker 2: that I am aware of, were leveling mechanisms, things that 760 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:31,840 Speaker 2: preserved egalitarianism, like the thing about no loot and no 761 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,040 Speaker 2: way of exerting power over other people. 762 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:37,800 Speaker 3: Oh no, Margaret, this all sounds pretty woke. 763 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,319 Speaker 2: Does it sound like? Based on what I know about 764 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:45,200 Speaker 2: the Greek at least understanding of the word anarchia, maybe 765 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:48,680 Speaker 2: they would likely have called their town's system anarchy. It's 766 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:51,520 Speaker 2: the same word in Latin, it's just spelled different. Yeah, 767 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 2: And if this is true, and this is my inference here, 768 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:56,040 Speaker 2: I have not read as historian that said they called 769 00:38:56,080 --> 00:39:00,880 Speaker 2: it anarchia, but everything around it makes me believe that 770 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,040 Speaker 2: it is perfectly possible that they would have been like, oh, 771 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 2: we have a society without leaders. It's a there's a 772 00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:06,279 Speaker 2: word for that. 773 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:07,600 Speaker 3: It's definitely possible. 774 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:11,640 Speaker 2: If so, this is the oldest self styled anarchist society 775 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:15,799 Speaker 2: I found. And they don't lack for organization because they 776 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:19,200 Speaker 2: fed and cared for themselves and mobilized for war and defense. 777 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:24,800 Speaker 2: And you can't not have organization and feed one hundred 778 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:26,200 Speaker 2: thousand people for three years. 779 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:27,080 Speaker 3: And do this successfully. 780 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:30,319 Speaker 2: No, absolutely not, because the system of slavery was so 781 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:33,279 Speaker 2: vast and rome, and because these people didn't exclude the 782 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:37,560 Speaker 2: freeborn poor. You have people who can do everything in 783 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:40,959 Speaker 2: this town. You have gladiators who know how to fight. 784 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 2: You have weavers who make stuff, including makeshift shields. You 785 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:48,319 Speaker 2: have agricultural workers who grow food. Some women became priestesses. 786 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,960 Speaker 2: Doctors did doctoring, chefs did chefing. You had actors and 787 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,879 Speaker 2: artisans and teachers. Can you imagine the plays that they 788 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:57,360 Speaker 2: put on incredible. 789 00:39:57,400 --> 00:39:59,799 Speaker 4: I mean, I would like to go live there, I know, 790 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:04,280 Speaker 4: for a year before I know it falls just yeah, 791 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:04,839 Speaker 4: one year. 792 00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:08,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, Although it's interesting, there's a decent chance that this 793 00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:14,240 Speaker 2: society actually outlives the rebellion by at least ten years, really, 794 00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,880 Speaker 2: and we'll talk about that later. And people who escaped 795 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:19,839 Speaker 2: and got there showed up with everything that they could 796 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,799 Speaker 2: steal from the people who used to own them. They 797 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:25,840 Speaker 2: likely use democratic methods that came from all over the world, 798 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:28,239 Speaker 2: like the Germanic folks might have brought the folk moot, 799 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,880 Speaker 2: which is a way of like decision making and everyone 800 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:33,960 Speaker 2: getting together and talking about stuff. But we don't actually 801 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:36,360 Speaker 2: know how they govern themselves besides what we can infer 802 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:38,840 Speaker 2: from the various democratic models from all the places that 803 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:42,400 Speaker 2: they're from. And the third thing I know is that 804 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:46,319 Speaker 2: the rebels banned sexual violence, not just in their own community, 805 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:52,279 Speaker 2: but during war. And this is really odd for the time, Like, yeah, 806 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:54,919 Speaker 2: I think it was kind of seen as like, well, 807 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:56,960 Speaker 2: at least I get to go do this horrible thing 808 00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:58,040 Speaker 2: if I go to war. 809 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:00,560 Speaker 4: Right, you know, it wasn't viewed the way that we 810 00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:03,799 Speaker 4: view it now by a long shot, And it is 811 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 4: very fascinating to me that that is a priority. 812 00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:08,799 Speaker 3: I respect it. 813 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:13,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty woke it is. This is the wokest army 814 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:18,279 Speaker 2: and ah yeah, and they share beat the odds, so 815 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:22,480 Speaker 2: most of them. If you're an escaped slave, you've probably 816 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:26,560 Speaker 2: experienced sexual violence, regardless of your gender, whether in the 817 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,919 Speaker 2: wars that led to your enslavement or while enslaved, because 818 00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:32,440 Speaker 2: it was absolutely normal and legal and fine in Roman 819 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:36,239 Speaker 2: society to assault the people that you owned. And so 820 00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:38,680 Speaker 2: they didn't want any of that, and they were mostly 821 00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:42,440 Speaker 2: really cool. The only two things that I know that 822 00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:44,680 Speaker 2: I can hold against them. There's almost certainly way more 823 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:47,880 Speaker 2: bad things too. I don't know everything about gender in 824 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:50,120 Speaker 2: the society. I say that I spent a long time 825 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:50,960 Speaker 2: reading about it, but. 826 00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:52,840 Speaker 4: You probably know more than the average person. 827 00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:55,480 Speaker 2: Probably at least right now, three weeks from now, I 828 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:58,239 Speaker 2: won't remember all of it. But Rome had fucked up 829 00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:02,520 Speaker 2: superstitions around menstruation. You have all these Roman men writing 830 00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:06,239 Speaker 2: that if menstruating people touch plants, the plants will wither. Oh, 831 00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:10,359 Speaker 2: come on, and like menstruating women can't be anywhere near 832 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:15,399 Speaker 2: the line exactly. Women are all witches and god, it's 833 00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:18,319 Speaker 2: so funny. Actually, right before all this happened. There was 834 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,760 Speaker 2: this right wing senator, I think maybe console in Rome, 835 00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:25,680 Speaker 2: who was just such a modern right wing dude, and 836 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:30,920 Speaker 2: he specifically he stopped the giving of free grain to 837 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:34,319 Speaker 2: poor people in the cities, hoping it would clear out 838 00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:38,439 Speaker 2: the cities of the riff wrath. Yeah, and he also, Oh, 839 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:40,080 Speaker 2: there's some other thing he did that I was like 840 00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:42,800 Speaker 2: thinking about, but I can't remember it right now. Anyway, 841 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:47,920 Speaker 2: he's not in the script. He sucked whatever he sucked. Okay. 842 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:51,760 Speaker 2: Another thing that menstruating people could do with their terrible, 843 00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:56,800 Speaker 2: cursed womanly fingers is that if men's training people touched 844 00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:59,960 Speaker 2: the color purple, which was like a rare die associated 845 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:03,040 Speaker 2: with nobility, it would tarnish the purple. 846 00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:03,600 Speaker 1: Oh. 847 00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:08,040 Speaker 2: I don't even think they're even writing about the blood part. 848 00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:10,400 Speaker 2: I think they're just like with their fingers. 849 00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:12,839 Speaker 3: There's whatever is going on in our body's great. 850 00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:15,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, cool, which is kind of cool because then women 851 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:18,120 Speaker 2: are a threat to nobility. Yeah, that's fine by me. 852 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:23,520 Speaker 2: And in Thury, menstruating women were kept separated from everyone 853 00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:26,600 Speaker 2: else in traditional Roman style. It also might have been 854 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,440 Speaker 2: traditional style in every culture they were from. I don't know. 855 00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:32,360 Speaker 2: I have not looked up the superstitions of menstruation anywhere, 856 00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:33,279 Speaker 2: but rome to. 857 00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:35,320 Speaker 4: Be fair, when I'm menstruating, I don't really want to 858 00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:36,600 Speaker 4: be around anybody I know. 859 00:43:36,719 --> 00:43:38,360 Speaker 2: I also wonder like how much of that was like 860 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:40,879 Speaker 2: people being like I want to go over that hut. 861 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:41,759 Speaker 3: I don't feel good. 862 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:44,879 Speaker 2: I'm gonna go laid down. Yeah, I, as a woman 863 00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:46,960 Speaker 2: who doesn't menstraight bow out of this part of it. 864 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,440 Speaker 4: I mean it's possible, but I also don't want to 865 00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:52,320 Speaker 4: get told to go any specific place. 866 00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:57,560 Speaker 2: Also ever totally. And they also might have been doing 867 00:43:57,640 --> 00:44:02,040 Speaker 2: human sacrifice in theory. But what's interesting is that like 868 00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:08,040 Speaker 2: when the rebels would like ritualistically kill Roman prisoners, Like 869 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:10,200 Speaker 2: there's this moment where they might have killed three hundred 870 00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:15,680 Speaker 2: prisoners and it's presented as this like horrible pagan sacrifice. 871 00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:17,600 Speaker 2: Oh that was the thing that the guy did. Sorry 872 00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:21,680 Speaker 2: the right wing dude. He complained about giving food to 873 00:44:21,719 --> 00:44:25,160 Speaker 2: poor people, and he complained about superstition of witchcraft and 874 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:29,680 Speaker 2: like fake religion, even though this was hundreds of years 875 00:44:29,719 --> 00:44:34,359 Speaker 2: before Wow Christianity. Like that's that he's complaining about the 876 00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:39,480 Speaker 2: pagan barbarians and the witches even though he's a fucking pagan. 877 00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:42,280 Speaker 2: I love it. I love it so much wild. 878 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:44,920 Speaker 3: Okay, So the witchcraft, that's what reminded you. 879 00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:49,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, so they were complaining about witches, and so when 880 00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:51,960 Speaker 2: they would kill three hundred of their prisoners, this is 881 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:56,640 Speaker 2: scene as like this barbaric human sacrifice. When the Romans 882 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:02,640 Speaker 2: crucify six thousand of them later, that's not sacrifice. Oh no, 883 00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:05,680 Speaker 2: that's just punishment against property. 884 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:06,120 Speaker 1: You know. 885 00:45:07,239 --> 00:45:16,240 Speaker 2: So like whatever, I'm calling you a hypocrite seventy BCE Rome, good, sir, Yeah, 886 00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:19,200 Speaker 2: you sir, are a hypocrite. Yeah, okay, So back to 887 00:45:19,239 --> 00:45:22,879 Speaker 2: the war. Historians are really confused about what happened next 888 00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:25,239 Speaker 2: in the war, not like where each army went, but 889 00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:28,000 Speaker 2: why it happened, because if you try to look at 890 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:30,759 Speaker 2: it like one guy is running the show, none of 891 00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:35,200 Speaker 2: it makes sense. Mostly ancient historians say that Spartacus tried 892 00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:37,120 Speaker 2: to lead everyone to freedom over the Alps to go 893 00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:38,960 Speaker 2: home because he was good and noble and wanted to 894 00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:42,040 Speaker 2: do that instead of attacking Rome. But the men rebelled 895 00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:45,800 Speaker 2: and wanted to stay and be horrible bandits or whatever. 896 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:50,239 Speaker 2: Fucking bullshit, because they sure a shit marched all the 897 00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:54,600 Speaker 2: way to the Alps out of the boot and they 898 00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:58,359 Speaker 2: defeated every army sent to stop them, and then they 899 00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:01,520 Speaker 2: turned around and march back south. And here's what I 900 00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:05,040 Speaker 2: think happened. This is Margaret pretending she's a historian, even 901 00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:09,240 Speaker 2: though she's a pop history educator. I think what happened 902 00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:11,160 Speaker 2: is that everyone who wanted to go home to Gaul 903 00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:14,560 Speaker 2: or Germania or Thrace or whatever went home and they 904 00:46:14,560 --> 00:46:17,600 Speaker 2: were like all right. I think that they sat around 905 00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:18,560 Speaker 2: they were like, well, do you want to go home 906 00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:20,279 Speaker 2: or do you want to stay and fight? And some 907 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:21,840 Speaker 2: people were like, we want to stay and fight. Some 908 00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:23,799 Speaker 2: people were like, well, we want to go home. And 909 00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:28,520 Speaker 2: so they walked their friends home. Oh, they took them 910 00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:31,120 Speaker 2: all the way to the fucking Alps, and they said, 911 00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:36,080 Speaker 2: all right, you're free. We freed ourselves and you can 912 00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:39,720 Speaker 2: go home. But I'm going to go kill more Romans. Right, 913 00:46:40,239 --> 00:46:43,960 Speaker 2: So they kept going. This is when they supposedly sacrificed 914 00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:47,840 Speaker 2: three hundred Roman prisoners to their gods. They're horrible pagan 915 00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:51,000 Speaker 2: gods as compared to the good non pagan gods of 916 00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:55,480 Speaker 2: Pagan Roman. Yeah. So you ever heard of the word decimate? 917 00:46:56,400 --> 00:46:56,760 Speaker 4: Yeah? 918 00:46:57,239 --> 00:46:58,640 Speaker 2: Do you know what it means historically? 919 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:02,480 Speaker 3: I guess not, but I can almost guarantee, I don't. 920 00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:05,240 Speaker 2: So you know how it has that word like decimal, 921 00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:07,600 Speaker 2: like what it sounds like ten? 922 00:47:07,960 --> 00:47:08,240 Speaker 3: Yeah? 923 00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:12,759 Speaker 2: Right, So the word decimate comes from this idea from 924 00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:14,480 Speaker 2: I think Rome and Rome certainly did it. 925 00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:14,680 Speaker 1: Here. 926 00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:17,920 Speaker 2: You take every group of ten soldiers, you have them 927 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:21,400 Speaker 2: draw lots. The person who draws the short lot is 928 00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:25,399 Speaker 2: killed by the other nine. What that's what you do 929 00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:29,880 Speaker 2: to your own army if your army has been behaving poorly, 930 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:32,160 Speaker 2: you decimate your own army. 931 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:33,359 Speaker 3: Oh I don't like this. 932 00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:39,080 Speaker 2: No, and this was to restore Roman discipline. So speaking 933 00:47:39,120 --> 00:47:44,799 Speaker 2: of unfree people in various ways. So it's possible that 934 00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:49,120 Speaker 2: Spartacus and the rebels sacrifice three hundred Romans. Then they 935 00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:52,840 Speaker 2: fucking decimated their own ranks, which was probably in the like, 936 00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:57,480 Speaker 2: h it's ten. I'm guessing that the army is like 937 00:47:57,480 --> 00:47:59,960 Speaker 2: e laite a couple, all right, you talk about like 938 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,839 Speaker 2: fifteen hundred people probably that's my complete random guess. Why 939 00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:07,399 Speaker 2: would you do that to make sure that no one 940 00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:12,440 Speaker 2: ever misbehaves ever again? Because they care about discipline and 941 00:48:12,520 --> 00:48:13,399 Speaker 2: like control. 942 00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:16,920 Speaker 4: Okay, So it's like making an example in such a 943 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:18,719 Speaker 4: way where you're okay. 944 00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:21,440 Speaker 2: It's like whenever you watch a movie and the evil 945 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:23,840 Speaker 2: bad guy is so evil that he kills his own minion, 946 00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:26,239 Speaker 2: and you're like, that's dumb. No one would do that, 947 00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:28,319 Speaker 2: And you're like, ah, Romans would. 948 00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:31,959 Speaker 3: Romans would. Yeah, I mean, I guess I could see. 949 00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:34,640 Speaker 3: I guess I could see that happening, just not so 950 00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:35,400 Speaker 3: many people. 951 00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:36,879 Speaker 2: Oh, I know, an entire army one in time. 952 00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:39,960 Speaker 4: I wouldn't want to lose that many. That's so many people. 953 00:48:40,040 --> 00:48:43,040 Speaker 4: It seems like shooting yourself in the foot big time. 954 00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:46,200 Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, speaking of the foot. 955 00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:48,160 Speaker 3: Of a boot, to the hacky sack, kicker, they're going. 956 00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:50,640 Speaker 2: To go back to the hacky sack. Actually, the rebels 957 00:48:51,160 --> 00:48:53,040 Speaker 2: they march all the way to the toe of the boot. 958 00:48:53,040 --> 00:48:54,440 Speaker 2: They've gone all the way up to the Alps from 959 00:48:54,440 --> 00:48:55,960 Speaker 2: the south, and then they turn around and go all 960 00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:58,080 Speaker 2: the way back, and so people are like, they're marching 961 00:48:58,120 --> 00:48:59,880 Speaker 2: on Rome. But they did march on Rome. They went 962 00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:02,359 Speaker 2: down because they were trying to get to Sicily, because 963 00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:04,400 Speaker 2: they were like, oh, that place is prime place for 964 00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:07,279 Speaker 2: a revolt. They just had two of them, We're going 965 00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:09,279 Speaker 2: to go there. And so they get to the toe 966 00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:10,640 Speaker 2: of the boot and they hang out with some pirates 967 00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:12,080 Speaker 2: and they're like, yo, we'll pay you to drive us 968 00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:15,239 Speaker 2: over there, because they totally use the word drive and yo, 969 00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:19,160 Speaker 2: yeah exactly. And then the pirates were like, yeah, we'll 970 00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:20,560 Speaker 2: take your money. And then the pirates fucked off with 971 00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:22,680 Speaker 2: their money and never took them to Sicily. 972 00:49:22,360 --> 00:49:23,200 Speaker 3: Because they're pirates. 973 00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:27,839 Speaker 2: Yeah, and so they turned back. But then Rome had 974 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:30,760 Speaker 2: literally built a sixty kilometer long wall across the narrow 975 00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:35,160 Speaker 2: part of the toe of Italy in order to stop them. Oh, 976 00:49:35,200 --> 00:49:37,080 Speaker 2: and so the rebels were trapped and then they waited 977 00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:40,840 Speaker 2: until a snowstorm and then they broke free and it 978 00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:43,040 Speaker 2: was like a terrible cost. Only a third of them 979 00:49:43,040 --> 00:49:44,399 Speaker 2: made it. I don't know if the other third state 980 00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:46,200 Speaker 2: or two thirds of them died. I actually don't know. 981 00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:50,919 Speaker 2: The rebels are finally defeated in one big battle. Maybe 982 00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:53,200 Speaker 2: they're tired of guerrilla war and they're looking to get 983 00:49:53,200 --> 00:49:57,240 Speaker 2: it over with. That's like what Roman historians are saying. 984 00:49:57,760 --> 00:49:59,480 Speaker 2: I have my weird suspicion. I'll get to it at 985 00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:01,520 Speaker 2: the end, but it's just a suspicion. There's no reason 986 00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:06,000 Speaker 2: I'm right. And famously even the Roman historians kind of 987 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:10,120 Speaker 2: hand it to the rebels here twelve three hundred rebels 988 00:50:10,160 --> 00:50:14,040 Speaker 2: were slain in this battle, and only two had wounds 989 00:50:14,040 --> 00:50:19,480 Speaker 2: in their back, so only two had died running the 990 00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:24,359 Speaker 2: rest had died fighting. Wow. Another six thousand of them 991 00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:28,000 Speaker 2: were captured alive, and they were crucified along the road 992 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:31,919 Speaker 2: between Rome and Capua. So every like thirty meters for 993 00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:35,600 Speaker 2: hundreds of miles or whatever the fuck it is, there's 994 00:50:35,640 --> 00:50:37,560 Speaker 2: just a guy and they just leave him there. 995 00:50:38,120 --> 00:50:41,239 Speaker 4: Big industry, Yeah, crucification business back then. 996 00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:44,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, but do you know his body? They never found. 997 00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:47,480 Speaker 3: Sparta kiss he's still alive. 998 00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:51,239 Speaker 2: They never found his body, and so everyone just says, oh, 999 00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:54,719 Speaker 2: but he clearly died. Everything I've learned about Rome in 1000 00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:58,040 Speaker 2: the past couple months of researching this shit too much, 1001 00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:01,600 Speaker 2: they would have found that motherfucker's body if he was 1002 00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:04,040 Speaker 2: dead there they did that shit. They were like, we're 1003 00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:06,640 Speaker 2: gonna find him, behead him, and send his head somewhere, 1004 00:51:06,680 --> 00:51:08,279 Speaker 2: like they cared about this shit. 1005 00:51:08,520 --> 00:51:11,080 Speaker 4: Yeah, they would have wanted to make an example of it, 1006 00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:13,320 Speaker 4: to parade him around. 1007 00:51:13,920 --> 00:51:17,640 Speaker 2: Yeah. So what I like to believe happened is that 1008 00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:18,680 Speaker 2: it just straight up wasn't. 1009 00:51:18,719 --> 00:51:21,920 Speaker 3: At the last battle, he sat that one out. 1010 00:51:21,880 --> 00:51:23,760 Speaker 2: That him and his wife made it back to Fury 1011 00:51:23,800 --> 00:51:26,040 Speaker 2: and lived plenty long after that, and it would explain 1012 00:51:26,080 --> 00:51:31,680 Speaker 2: why they did that battle rather than staying Gorilla, right, yeah, 1013 00:51:31,719 --> 00:51:34,120 Speaker 2: and just going and going and fighting the superior force 1014 00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:38,440 Speaker 2: and open combat. Again, there's no reason to believe this, 1015 00:51:38,960 --> 00:51:39,200 Speaker 2: and it. 1016 00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:41,799 Speaker 3: Would explain why they lost because he wasn't there. 1017 00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:43,799 Speaker 2: Yeah, he was a good tactician. 1018 00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:46,040 Speaker 3: That's interesting. 1019 00:51:46,320 --> 00:51:49,760 Speaker 4: I like this theory that they lived happily ever after. 1020 00:51:50,760 --> 00:51:54,800 Speaker 2: Well, possibly in theory, because for the next ten years 1021 00:51:54,880 --> 00:51:58,120 Speaker 2: it was like a rebellious society. The Senate had to 1022 00:51:58,160 --> 00:52:01,760 Speaker 2: send another arm me to go put down a rebellion 1023 00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:03,520 Speaker 2: there ten years later in sixty BCE. 1024 00:52:04,440 --> 00:52:05,200 Speaker 3: It's possible. 1025 00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:09,240 Speaker 2: And even if it's not, maybe he went home to Thrace. 1026 00:52:09,360 --> 00:52:12,440 Speaker 2: That would rule. Yeah, And the people in Thury were 1027 00:52:12,480 --> 00:52:15,399 Speaker 2: just like they remembered freedom. They were like, well, it's 1028 00:52:15,400 --> 00:52:18,239 Speaker 2: pretty nice when we didn't have coins or. 1029 00:52:18,200 --> 00:52:22,080 Speaker 3: Rape they were able to continue it. Yeah, I'd love 1030 00:52:22,120 --> 00:52:23,719 Speaker 3: to have no coins or rape. 1031 00:52:23,719 --> 00:52:24,000 Speaker 1: I know. 1032 00:52:24,719 --> 00:52:26,960 Speaker 2: And so the guy who led the army that defeated him, 1033 00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:29,440 Speaker 2: and I think the guy who did the decimation, but 1034 00:52:29,480 --> 00:52:31,359 Speaker 2: I actually can't remember because I mostly didn't write down 1035 00:52:31,360 --> 00:52:33,719 Speaker 2: the various Roman dude's names because they all annoy me. 1036 00:52:34,239 --> 00:52:37,520 Speaker 2: But this guy's so bad that I'm including his name, 1037 00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:44,239 Speaker 2: Marcus Crassus, and he was this capitalist guy before capitalism. 1038 00:52:45,120 --> 00:52:48,760 Speaker 2: He made his fortune buying and selling property, and specifically 1039 00:52:49,160 --> 00:52:52,120 Speaker 2: this is cartoon villain shit. He ran a fire brigade 1040 00:52:52,560 --> 00:52:55,719 Speaker 2: where when a fire broke out, they would show up 1041 00:52:55,920 --> 00:53:00,000 Speaker 2: and be like, that's an awful nice house you got, shamous, 1042 00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:02,920 Speaker 2: it's on fire, not worth a lot. While it's on fire, 1043 00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:06,120 Speaker 2: you want to sell it to me. If you don't 1044 00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:08,839 Speaker 2: sell it to me at a deep discount, I'm gonna 1045 00:53:08,840 --> 00:53:09,680 Speaker 2: watch it burn down. 1046 00:53:10,080 --> 00:53:10,879 Speaker 4: Fuck this guy. 1047 00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:13,799 Speaker 2: Yeah, they only put out fires if you sold them 1048 00:53:13,840 --> 00:53:16,680 Speaker 2: your house. God, imagine like your house is on fire 1049 00:53:16,719 --> 00:53:17,799 Speaker 2: and the fire department shows up. 1050 00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:21,080 Speaker 4: See, things do get better over time, gradually. At least 1051 00:53:21,160 --> 00:53:23,000 Speaker 4: that's not how our fire department works. 1052 00:53:23,360 --> 00:53:26,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. Well, what's funny is that, like nineteenth century 1053 00:53:26,120 --> 00:53:28,600 Speaker 2: New York City fire departments would like fist fight each 1054 00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:30,160 Speaker 2: other over who got to put out the fire. And 1055 00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:33,680 Speaker 2: there was like a lot of corruption involved in fire departments. 1056 00:53:34,120 --> 00:53:35,840 Speaker 2: I don't know as much about this history. This is 1057 00:53:35,920 --> 00:53:37,359 Speaker 2: like gangs in New York. 1058 00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:42,120 Speaker 4: Shit, another fascinating thing to dive into at some point. 1059 00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:47,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, and so Meanwhile, after the Third Servile War, slave 1060 00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:51,960 Speaker 2: revolts terrified the land owners so much that and this 1061 00:53:52,040 --> 00:53:55,680 Speaker 2: seems to be causing effect, they started using tenant farmers 1062 00:53:55,719 --> 00:53:59,880 Speaker 2: instead work the land and give me a cut. And 1063 00:54:00,120 --> 00:54:03,920 Speaker 2: this fundamentally changed the Roman economy. Though it didn't end slavery, 1064 00:54:04,080 --> 00:54:07,360 Speaker 2: it moved more enslaved people towards slightly nicer occupations like 1065 00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:11,600 Speaker 2: workshops and in the home. But the other thing that 1066 00:54:11,719 --> 00:54:14,439 Speaker 2: also caused this, or where is the cause and effect here, 1067 00:54:15,040 --> 00:54:18,279 Speaker 2: is that international conquest was kind of done for about 1068 00:54:18,320 --> 00:54:23,200 Speaker 2: one hundred years, and so there wasn't this like steady 1069 00:54:23,520 --> 00:54:26,280 Speaker 2: fresh supply of cheap enslaved people. 1070 00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:27,160 Speaker 3: Right. 1071 00:54:27,920 --> 00:54:31,360 Speaker 2: So, yeah, that's the story of Spartacus in the Commune 1072 00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:31,840 Speaker 2: of Thiry. 1073 00:54:32,400 --> 00:54:36,520 Speaker 4: Fascinating. There are at least five movies buried in there. Yeah, 1074 00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:40,759 Speaker 4: different fascinating stories. I really want to know more about 1075 00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:45,319 Speaker 4: Spartacus's wife and the female gladiators I. 1076 00:54:45,280 --> 00:54:48,320 Speaker 3: Know, and all of it very very interesting. 1077 00:54:48,440 --> 00:54:51,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, and the women fighting in the Second Servile War, like. 1078 00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:55,200 Speaker 3: Yes, that was right. Yeah, what a journey. 1079 00:54:55,480 --> 00:54:59,600 Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you, Margaret, thank you for teaching me about Spotagus. 1080 00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:02,319 Speaker 2: Thanks for coming along. I always knew I was going 1081 00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:04,879 Speaker 2: to do Spartacus one day, and I'm glad that it's 1082 00:55:04,920 --> 00:55:08,680 Speaker 2: not just that he was cooler than I thought. It's 1083 00:55:08,719 --> 00:55:11,880 Speaker 2: that he's less a part of the story than I thought. Yeah, 1084 00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:14,800 Speaker 2: and that makes me happy, Like and I think it 1085 00:55:14,840 --> 00:55:18,280 Speaker 2: would have made him happy because he did not become 1086 00:55:18,320 --> 00:55:20,359 Speaker 2: a king. He didn't want to. 1087 00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:25,279 Speaker 4: No, the society that they created did not reflect that 1088 00:55:25,360 --> 00:55:30,920 Speaker 4: at all. It reflected a group effort. It reflected community, 1089 00:55:31,160 --> 00:55:35,799 Speaker 4: creating a communal space where people can live, can just that, 1090 00:55:36,040 --> 00:55:40,759 Speaker 4: just live, be alive, have your own autonomy and you know, 1091 00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:44,520 Speaker 4: depending on each other. It's quite beautiful. I had no 1092 00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:49,080 Speaker 4: idea that any of this was associated with Spartacus. Now 1093 00:55:49,080 --> 00:55:50,680 Speaker 4: I do think that we are Spartacus. 1094 00:55:50,920 --> 00:55:54,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, you are Spartacus that now you have learned. Yeah, well, 1095 00:55:54,440 --> 00:55:56,600 Speaker 2: if people want to learn about the things that are happening, 1096 00:55:57,120 --> 00:56:00,680 Speaker 2: not two thousand and ninety years ago. Do you have 1097 00:56:00,719 --> 00:56:01,520 Speaker 2: any suggestions. 1098 00:56:02,640 --> 00:56:04,799 Speaker 4: There's not very many news podcasts out there. It's a 1099 00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,880 Speaker 4: good thing that I host one. Yes, oh good. 1100 00:56:08,200 --> 00:56:09,480 Speaker 3: You can check us out. 1101 00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:12,680 Speaker 4: Over at some More News, which I run with Cody Johnston. 1102 00:56:12,760 --> 00:56:15,040 Speaker 4: We've got the Some More News main show, which you 1103 00:56:15,040 --> 00:56:17,799 Speaker 4: can watch on YouTube, urn your podcast feed, or we've 1104 00:56:17,800 --> 00:56:20,280 Speaker 4: got even more news, which we do two times a week, 1105 00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:24,680 Speaker 4: and next year there will be live streams. I've been told, 1106 00:56:24,920 --> 00:56:28,440 Speaker 4: Hell yeah, hell yeah, lots of news going on over there. 1107 00:56:29,160 --> 00:56:34,240 Speaker 2: Well, I have a short story coming out next January. 1108 00:56:34,560 --> 00:56:37,080 Speaker 2: It is in the Daniel Kine series. It is sort 1109 00:56:37,120 --> 00:56:39,440 Speaker 2: of part of the third book of that series. But 1110 00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:42,040 Speaker 2: I know that sounds like a thing attached to a 1111 00:56:42,040 --> 00:56:44,680 Speaker 2: third book in a series, but you might like that series. 1112 00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:46,719 Speaker 2: It's called the Daniel Kine Series. The third book is 1113 00:56:46,760 --> 00:56:48,600 Speaker 2: called The Immortal Choir Holds Every Voice, and it's the 1114 00:56:48,600 --> 00:56:50,919 Speaker 2: most recent book I wrote, or the most recent book 1115 00:56:50,960 --> 00:56:55,080 Speaker 2: that's come out. But I promised all the Kickstarter backers 1116 00:56:55,160 --> 00:56:57,160 Speaker 2: that I would give them a new short story that 1117 00:56:57,280 --> 00:57:00,279 Speaker 2: could have fit into that book, and that come out 1118 00:57:00,280 --> 00:57:02,720 Speaker 2: in January. And so if you backed it on Kickstarter, 1119 00:57:02,880 --> 00:57:06,040 Speaker 2: you're going to get that for free digitally. But if 1120 00:57:06,040 --> 00:57:08,960 Speaker 2: you want the print version of it, the publisher I 1121 00:57:09,000 --> 00:57:12,279 Speaker 2: work with, called Strangers in Tangle Wilderness, puts out a 1122 00:57:12,360 --> 00:57:15,880 Speaker 2: mailing once a month to our Patreon backers, And so 1123 00:57:15,960 --> 00:57:19,360 Speaker 2: if you sign up before December thirty, first ten dollars 1124 00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:21,200 Speaker 2: a month, we will mail you a zine anywhere in 1125 00:57:21,240 --> 00:57:24,120 Speaker 2: the world and that happens every month, but the January 1126 00:57:24,160 --> 00:57:26,880 Speaker 2: one is a particularly large envelope and one of the 1127 00:57:26,960 --> 00:57:30,240 Speaker 2: zines in that package is going to be called and 1128 00:57:30,360 --> 00:57:33,560 Speaker 2: the Clean Bones Gone, and it is a story by 1129 00:57:33,600 --> 00:57:40,720 Speaker 2: Doomsday about the husband she murdered. So cool yeah, z zines. 1130 00:57:41,280 --> 00:57:44,520 Speaker 2: I love it all right, I'll talk to everyone soon. 1131 00:57:47,000 --> 00:57:49,480 Speaker 1: Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff is a production of 1132 00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:52,640 Speaker 1: cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, 1133 00:57:52,760 --> 00:57:56,040 Speaker 1: visit our website Coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out 1134 00:57:56,120 --> 00:57:57,880 Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio app I'm. 1135 00:57:57,680 --> 00:58:00,320 Speaker 3: A Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast apps. 1136 00:58:04,480 --> 00:58:04,760 Speaker 1: MHM