Category:Spartacus (subject)

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Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator and leader of a slave revolt in Italy in 73-71 BCE. His story is roughly contemporaneous to, and somehow parallels, that of the Maccabees.

This page is edited by Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan.

Spartacus -- Overview

Spartacus (1830 Foyatier), art

Spartacus (1847 Vela), art

The Oath of Spartacus (1871 Barrias), art

The Cursed Field (1878 Bronnikov), art

There is nothing that historically connects Spartacus with the Jews and Jewish and Christian origins. Spartacus was a Thracian and lived in Italy under Roman rule when Judea was still under the Maccabees before the Roman conquest. However, the similarities with the Maccabean revolt and the fact that 6,000 of his followers were crucified, has made him a character of some interest for Second Temple Studies.

Since the 18th century, numerous fictional work praised Spartacus as a freedom fighter and a champion of the oppressed. The unlikely connection between Spartacus and the Jews was made explicit for the first time by Arthur Koestler in 1939. In The Gladiators (1939 Koestler / Simon), novel one of Spartacus' companions was a member of the Jewish sect of the Essenes and his egalitarian views shaped the revolt.

Following this path, Howard Fast, in 1948 author of a celebrated novel on the Maccabees, made in 1951 Spartacus the leader of a multiethnic army. Among his closest followers and friends was also a Jewish gladiator, David, now presented of a sort of "Maccabean" warrior. The two major works of the 1950s, namely, Spartaco (Sins of Rome / 1953 Freda), feature film and Спартак (Spartacus / 1954 Khachaturian), ballet music, however, did not develop the Jewish theme, drawing inspiration from Spartaco (1873 Giovagnoli), novel.

Directly inspired by Fast's novel, Spartacus (1960 Kubrick), feature film gave Harold J. Stone a relevant role as David, the Jewish companion of Spartacus. Seregi's 1968 choreography of Khachaturyan's ballet also introduced the character of "Gad, a Jewish gladiator." The iconic scene: "I am Spartacus!" was spoofed in The Life of Brian (1979 Jones), feature film in the scene of the crucifixion of Brian.

Among the most recent works on Spartacus, the only ones to make relevant the Jewish connection were Spartacus (1990 Dresdon, Wilkins / 1968 Seregi, Khachaturyan), filmed ballet, and Spartacus (2004 Dornhelm), TV mini-series.