What I Learned from studying Spartacus

The fiction and the reality

This week I published a piece in Compact about the gladiator/slave/revolt leader Spartacus - especially as portrayed in the 1960 film - as an inspiring figure for left leaning intellectuals and activists.

The upshot is: everyone needs real, great heroes - even if they think they don't.

This goes for writers, accountants, boxers, and revolutionaries alike.

I ended up researching Spartacus a great deal while working on the biography of his nemesis, Crassus, for the Cost of Glory. (Part 2 of Crassus is now live, by the way.) It turns out, by far the most important ancient source on Spartacus is Plutarch's biography of Crassus.

Here are some lessons I learned on how to motivate people from the real Spartacus:

1). The power of religion.

The 1960 movie depicts Spartacus' woman as an innocent, simple, country slave. In fact, she claimed to be a prophetess of Dionysus (a god associated with freedom). She claimed she had frequent dream visitations from the God. When Spartacus was brought to Rome to be sold, she saw a serpent coiled around his face as he slept, and she spread the word among his followers about this.  Spartacus thus appeared as a divinely blessed savior figure.

People want competent leaders, but they also crave to be spiritually connected with the causes they back - especially if they are going to risk their lives and livelihoods (say, at a startup or a political movement). 

The easiest and best way to learn how to get religion on your side is to regularly participate in some established communal tradition.

2). Use fear.

At a low point in the war, Spartacus had a Roman prisoner crucified in the space between the two army camps. He wanted to remind his men of what would happen if they lost. The troops fought more bravely after that, and busted through the barrier Crassus built to trap them.

It's not that Spartacus' men didn't already know the grim punishment awaiting them: But Spartacus understood the power of keeping this fact top of mind. 

You should remind people of the consequences of losing, though you can usually afford to be a little subtler about it.

3). Keep Moving

Spartacus' army, even when it reached 70,000 fighting men, never sat still for long. They coordinated surprise night raids on the Romans - captured their camps, caught their commanders taking baths, stole their weapons.

When you are in motion, you summon up a higher dopamine state, which increases motivation, allowing you to keep the initiative.

Here's a link to the full post I did on the subject on X.

Stay Ancient,

Alex

PS.

In case you missed it: I thought this news article on Pythagoras was pretty funny.