Caius Crassus

Thesis Statement

Spartacus is a very fine novel which merits the widest distribution.

Introduction

In Howard Fast's novel, the Roman general whose legions finally defeated Spartacus recounts to associates visiting at the aristocratic Villa Salaria how, on orders of the Senate, he also destroyed two magnificent monuments carved by the revolutionary slaves out of volcanic stone on the slope of Vesuvius: We destroyed the images most thoroughly and ground them into rubble - so that no trace of it remains. So did we destroy Spartacus and his army. So will we in time - and necessarily destroy the very memory of what he did and how he did it.

Analysis

This prediction of the wealthy Roman praetor, M. Licinius Crassus, was almost fully realized. We are greatly indebted to Howard Fast for resurrecting and interpreting the significance of this heroic slave war for liberation, a war which came close to accomplishing what could be fully consummated only on the basis of economic and political developments which had yet to run their course (Theresa Urbainczyk, pp 12-191). Although the setting and narrative of Spartacus date back more than 2,000 years, it is clear that this novel was written to illuminate our own times. The pompous decadence of the Roman ruling class is here contrasted with the simple dignity and progressive vigor of the slaves in a way which evokes repeated images of the main contending classes of today (Brent D. Shaw, pp 34-290).

One sees the cynical corruption of the Roman political leaders, their gross sexual immorality and perversion, the degradation of their women and the degeneracy of their youth. Here pictured is the sadistic delight of the ruling class and its sycophants in gladiatorial fighting of pairs to the death, and their morbid fascination with the mass crucifixions of enemies of the state. The magnificent public baths, the splendor of the latifundia estates and the elaborate cuisine of ruling class families contrast sharply with the horrible oppression of the slaves and the murderous poverty of the urban poor (Trow, pp 23-89).

The reader is impressed with the parasitism of almost the whole non-slave population, in a society where even the dole or the army or the role of paid informer is considered much more honorable than work. One also comes to understand the vapid servility of the intellectual apologists of this rotten system - the Roman philosophers and statesmen who, like Cicero, would explain, even ...