Oenomaus (rebel slave)
Encyclopedia
Oenomaus was a gladiator from Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

, who escaped from the gladiatorial school of Lentulus Batiatus
Lentulus Batiatus
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus was the Roman owner of a gladiatorial school in Capua , in southern Italy. It was from this school that in 73 BC, the Thracian slave, Spartacus, and about 70 to 78 followers, escaped...

 in Capua. Together with the Thracian Spartacus
Spartacus
Spartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable...

 and a fellow Gaul, Crixus
Crixus
Crixus was a leader of the slave rebellion in the Third Servile War, along with Spartacus and Oenomaus.He was a Gaul , and had been a slave for several years before the revolt. Crixus had fought for the Allobroges against the Romans and had been captured. Like his companions, Crixus had trained as...

, he became one of the leaders of rebellious slaves during the Third Servile War
Third Servile War
The Third Servile War , also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Roman Servile Wars...

 (73-71 BC), but died early in the war.

Oenomaus was involved in one of the first major successes of the slave army, the rout of the army of the praetor Gaius Claudius Glaber
Gaius Claudius Glaber
Gaius Claudius Glaber was a Roman praetor and legatus in 73 BC. He tried but failed to hem in Spartacus and his fellow slaves on Mt. Vesuvius during the Third Servile War. The rebels were trapped by a narrow passage, the only way leading up. Without the Roman cohorts knowing, Spartacus and his men...

, who had tried to lay siege to the slave army near Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...

.

Oenomaus fell in an early battle even before his fellow commander, Crixus, died, possibly during the winter of 73-72 BC when the slave armies were plundering cities and towns in the south of Italy.

In popular culture

  • Oenomaus appears as a character in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus
    Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus
    Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus was a 1992 concept album by Jeff Wayne and others, telling the story of Roman gladiator, Spartacus....

    .
  • Oenomaus is played by Peter Mensah
    Peter Mensah
    Peter Mensah , is an English/Ghanaian actor, best known for his roles in Tears of the Sun and 300, and more recently on the Starz original series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.-Early life:Mensah comes from an academic family...

     in the 2009 Starz television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand
    Spartacus: Blood and Sand
    Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a Starz television series that premiered on January 22, 2010. The series is inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus , a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Executive producers Steven S...

    , and the 2010 Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
    Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
    Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a Starz television mini-series and prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which premiered January 21, 2011. The series follows the character Gannicus , the first gladiator to become Champion of Capua representing Lentulus Batiatus...

    , at first simply known by the title of "Doctore", which means 'teacher'—in his case, as trainer of gladiators. In the series his character is re-imagined as a sub-Saharan African, rather than a Gaul.

Ancient sources

  • Orosius, Histories 5.24.1-2
  • Appian, Civil Wars 1.116
  • Florus, Epitome 2.8.20

Secondary literature

  • Bradley, Keith. Slavery and Rebellion in the Roman World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. ISBN 0253312590
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