Читать книгу The Warrior's Manifesto. Ideals for Those Who Protect and Defend онлайн
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Slaves overthrew slave masters. Spartacus prevailed.
Rome sent Praetor Gaius Claudius Glaber to quell the rebellion. He pinned them on Mount Vesuvius and pursued victory by attrition. But Spartacus was a bold and unorthodox tactical thinker. He scaled down a side of the mountain along plaited vines with a small group of about seventy comrades, outflanked the Romans, and attacked from behind, dispatching the much larger Roman militia, including Glaber, to its end.4
Slaves throughout the empire allowed the hope of a once silent word to touch their lips: freedom. They flocked to join Spartacus in thousands. He made an army of them.
Spartacus outwitted, outmaneuvered, and routed legions under command of Publius Varinius. Varinius surrounded the encampment of the rebels. Spartacus posted stakes at regular intervals around its periphery. To the stakes he affixed corpses decked in soldiers’ garb, nailing weapons to their hands as he lit fires throughout the camp. The impression from a distance was that of a bustling and well-garrisoned space. Varinius, thus deceived, delayed attack.5 In the meantime, Spartacus slipped the camp with his army by night, wheeling on the duped Varinius from a better position and destroying his legions.