120 B.C – He was born this year, according to Roman historians, was a gladiator-slave who became the alleged leader of an unsuccessful slave uprising against the Roman Republic.
73 B.C – Spartacus and some 70 followers escaped from the gladiator school of Lentulus Batiatus. Seizing the knives in the cook’s shop and a wagon full of weapons, the slaves fled to the caldera of Mount Vesuvius, near modern day Naples.
72 B.C- The Senate assigned both consuls and four legions to the war against the slaves. After a minor engagement at Mt. Garganos in which Crixus was killed, Spartacus defeated the two consuls in separate battles in central Italy. At this point he attempted to lead the slaves north to freedom beyond the Alps.
71 B.C – Spartacus broke through Crassus’ lines but suffered two defeats at his hands in Lucania. He then retired again to Bruttium (Calabria), where he defeated two of Crassus’ lieutenants who were following him. Encouraged, Spartacus’s men persuaded him to risk a major battle with Crassus. He plundered most of Italy before being defeated and killed in a pitched battle.