Spartacus (c. 111-71 BCE) was a Thracian gladiator who became one of the leaders of the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic beginning in 73 BCE. Trained at a gladiatorial school in Capua, he escaped with a group of fellow slaves and gathered a large force of escaped slaves that defeated several Roman armies sent against it across southern Italy. The revolt was eventually crushed by a large Roman army under Marcus Licinius Crassus, with Spartacus killed in the final battle. His rebellion became one of antiquity's most famous slave revolts and has since served as a recurring symbol of resistance against oppression.
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