Spartacus (novel)
Encyclopedia
Spartacus is a historical novel
by the Scottish
writer
Lewis Grassic Gibbon
, first published under his real name of James Leslie Mitchell.
Although Gibbon is mainly known for his trilogy A Scots Quair
, this is his best known full length work outside that trilogy.
As its name suggests, it is an account of the great slave revolt
in Ancient Rome
, led by Spartacus
.
who joins the revolt. In the first chapter we are told how he was sold into slavery as a child and sexually abused by an owner.
Another important character is Elpinice, a female slave who helps Spartacus and his fellow gladiators escape from Capua, and who becomes Spartacus's lover. She gives birth to a son, but while Spartacus is fighting elsewhere she is raped and murdered by soldiers, and the child is also killed. The novel touches on Gibbon's views on human history, with Spartacus seen as a survivor of the Golden Age
.
However, in spite of various additions and speculations, it does stick fairly closely to the known historical facts about the revolt. Plutarch
's life of Crassus is clearly the main source, but it does make use of some other classical sources.
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
by the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell , a Scottish writer.-Biography:...
, first published under his real name of James Leslie Mitchell.
Although Gibbon is mainly known for his trilogy A Scots Quair
A Scots Quair
A Scots Quair is a trilogy by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, describing the life of Chris Guthrie, a woman from the north east of Scotland during the early 20th century....
, this is his best known full length work outside that trilogy.
As its name suggests, it is an account of the great slave revolt
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...
in Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, led by 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...
.
Plot summary
The central character is not Spartacus himself, but Kleon, a fictional educated slave and eunuchEunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...
who joins the revolt. In the first chapter we are told how he was sold into slavery as a child and sexually abused by an owner.
Another important character is Elpinice, a female slave who helps Spartacus and his fellow gladiators escape from Capua, and who becomes Spartacus's lover. She gives birth to a son, but while Spartacus is fighting elsewhere she is raped and murdered by soldiers, and the child is also killed. The novel touches on Gibbon's views on human history, with Spartacus seen as a survivor of the Golden Age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
.
However, in spite of various additions and speculations, it does stick fairly closely to the known historical facts about the revolt. Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
's life of Crassus is clearly the main source, but it does make use of some other classical sources.
See also
- Spartacus, the 1951 novel by Howard FastHoward FastHoward Melvin Fast was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.-Early life:Fast was born in New York City...
, on which the Kubrick film was based. - The GladiatorsThe Gladiators (novel)The Gladiators is the name of Arthur Koestler's novel about the Spartacus revolt in the Roman Republic. Although not as famous as Howard Fast's novel Spartacus , The Gladiators is interesting in its own right, because Koestler is not merely writing about the original slave revolt, but the 20th...
, Arthur KoestlerArthur KoestlerArthur Koestler CBE was a Hungarian author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria...
's 1939 novel on SpartacusSpartacusSpartacus 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...
.
External links
- online copy of the novel with an introduction