When Roman generals, Pompey and Crassus, led their mighty legions of soldiers and mercenaries into the lands surrounding Italy, neither could have anticipated the turmoil caused by one bold mercenary. His name was Spartacus.

A Thracian warrior, Spartacus deserted the Roman army, but was captured, made a slave and forced to fight as a gladiator. In 73BC, the untamable barbarian led a slave revolt of 70,000 gladiators against the Roman Republic.

Despite the fact that the brutal and conniving Roman General Crassus was finally able to suppress the revolt, his rival, the more popular Pompey, took all the credit. This sparked a division within the Republic that would ultimately spell its demise.