On the Spartacus Road: A Spectacular Journey Through Ancient Italy

by Peter Stothard

In this inspiring and original book, former editor of The Times, Sir Peter Stothard, re-traces the journey taken by Spartacus and his army of rebels. In the final century of the first Roman Republic an army of slaves brought a peculiar terror to the people of Italy. Its leaders were gladiators. Its purpose was incomprehensible. Its success was unprecedented.The Spartacus Road is the route along which this rebel army outfought the Roman legions between 73 and 71 BC, bringing both fears and hopes that have never wholly left the modern mind. It is a road that stretches through 2,000 miles of Italian countryside and out into 2,000 years of world history.In this inspiring and original memoir, the former editor of The Times, Peter Stothard, takes us on an extraordinary journey. The result is a book like none other – at once a journalist’s notebook, a classicist’s celebration, a survivor’s record of a near fatal cancer and the history of a unique and brutal war.As he travels along the Spartacus road – through the ruins of Capua to Vesuvius and the lost Greek cities of the Italian south – Stothard’s prose illuminates conflicting memories of times ancient and modern, the simultaneously foreign and familiar, one of the greatest stories of all ages. Sweepingly erudite and strikingly personal, On the Spartacus Road is non-fiction writing of the highest order.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Italy, Historical

Paperback

First published March 1, 2010

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very odd sort of book, part memoir, part travelogue, part history, part social commentary - very hard to define indeed! But a well-written one, following journalist Peter Stothard's journeys retracing the steps of the Spartacus rebels of the 70s B.C. I liked it!

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful book is not really a biography or even a biographical investigation of Spartacus, though there are moments of examination of Spartacus as icon in art, politics, literature and film (though it was published before Spartacus became an inspiration for a 21st century television series heavy naked and particularly largely endowed muscle men posing, unconvincingly, as trainee gladiators). It is about a real 'Spectacular Journey Through Ancient Italy' but even more it is a journey in which the author revisits, and rediscovers, the ancient Roman authors from his days as a young classicist.

For some men of my generation (over 60 educated in the UK or Ireland) there will always be something special about reading an author deeply learned in the classical authors and histories of Greece and Rome who dispenses that learning with an elegant and breezy but above all enthusiastic touch. When I was growing up in the 1970's I read countless histories but in particular travel books by authors for whom the ancient world of Rome was in their DNA - they may not have been classicists but they had had a classics based education and their writing was soaked in it - like a heavy rich sauce. Stothard's book reminds me of those long forgotten texts which formed my love of reading.

There is nothing preachy about it, nor is a question of Eurocentrism, it was just the delight in a past world that still had things worth saying - surprising things - I wonder how many fundamentalist Christians realise that the rejection of a proactive god interfering in the minutia of men's lives is not the heresy of godless Illuminati, communists, liberals or queer loving tree-huggers but is there in the ancient Epicurean philosophers long before their later sky God and his religion of intemperance was even a mote in the eye of either Gabriel of that village virgin? I would imagine very few of them, but even if they do they would probably dismiss it as 'Paganism' in the belief that such a word actually describes a religious system rather than being a prejudiced and pejorative description.

'On the Spartacus Road' is for anyone who loves the history of Rome and the ancient world and who enjoys an enquiry into truth - historical and philosophical - for me it was to be reminded of how our views of what is heroic have changed. Early in the book we learn of 29 Saxon warriors who were sent to fight in the Colosseum for the crowds entertainment and who, rather then die for the amusement of others, managed to kill each other barely an hour before they were scheduled to perform. The Romans were infuriated, for them slaves were simply 'tools that speak' the Saxons behaviour was incomprehensible as if a knife or saw had decided to break themselves rather than continue to allow their owners to use them.

For me those Saxons and others like them who refused to be gladiators are precursors of the others who in the millenniums to come, on slave estates in the Caribbean or the USA ,in the camps of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot, when everything had been taken away took back to themselves the only thing they had, their lives. It was preoccupation and nightmare of slave holders and gulag commanders the person who 'steals' their life back by killing themselves. There should be a monument to those Saxons and the others.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

ON FIRST OPENING STOTHARD'S SPARTACUS ROAD:

Began this this morning at 7.30AM.

This promises to be a meandering hodge--podge of interesting and original strands knitted together to make an absorbing tapestry.
(Says He-The-Willing-Victim with Utter Trust.)

So far it paints the Early Christians as an immoral, brutal and quarrelsome Mob; Spartacus' name as a term of disdain and abuse;
and Rome in an inglorious, deviant and rotten decline.
So ALL one was taught to believe in is turned upside down and quite on it's head.
THAT is more than enough to be stimulated and challenged by.

I don't know whether I was still semiconscious after a late night searching (appropriately) for two treasured poetry books "The Roman Poets" and "Odes of Horace" until 2.30AM, but the style of writing came across as tortuous and hence torturous, VERY torturous.
A Roman rack, actually.
A later return to full consciousness may remedy things entirely.

POST-READ:
This book was incredibly interesting and yet incredibly difficult to read!!!It has led me to purchase the Letters of Pliny the Younger; Plutarch's biography of Marcus Licinius Crassus who defeated Spartacus; two books by Seneca; the Odes and Satires and Letters of Horace in two different translations for comparison.

As difficult as I personally found the style of Peter Stothard, I was compelled to stick with him because I loved his love of the ancient classics and ancient history and the way he drew on such a variety of characters, real people of the past whose lives came alive for me.These he tied into his own journey of discovery as he followed in the tracks of Spartacus and his slave army, discoursing on their attitudes to death, his own close shave with cancer, and the deaths of gladiators for entertainment, for funereal rites,and as studies of how to die.We also meet the modern day tourists in pursuit of Spartacus which include a Korean woman and those who trade in his memory.

Alas, there is no index.
But there are intriguing chapter sub-headings at the front of the book eg. for Chapter VI titled "Egnazia to Botromagno"...South for the Winter / Magicians and Castrati / Greeks versus Romans / Arthur Koestler's Crucifixions / Early Cases of Syphilis / Massacre of the Horse-Builder's Men / Body Scans / The Duties of Slave Women.
These always intriguing sub-headings are however NOT inserted within the chapter itself and are often not in sequential order. There ARE sub-headings within the chapters but these are always addresses or locations.

There is so much sloppiness in the production of this book.
But don't worry about it because the sheer enthusiasm of its author for his subject and the fascinating incidents and psychology of the Roman World he relates turned me into a Time Traveller.
Now who? WHO?? could pass up an opportunity like THAT!!!???

[Steven Poore · Rating 2 out of 5]

The back cover describes this book as "at once a journalist's notebook, a classicist's celebration, a survivor's record of a near-fatal cancer, and the history of a unique and brutal war". Unfortunately, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. What it winds up being, despite Stothard's intentions, is a more self-regarding meditation on the philosophies and thoughts of Epicurus and Symmachus and Horace and Statios.
All of which might be more interesting in their own context, but they rather relegate Spartacus to the background of this book. The guy selling DVDs on the streets of Modena gets more of a look-in and more regard from Stothard at the end of the book than Spartacus does. Spartacus is a means to an end for Stothard, but after I finished reading the book, I still wasn't certain what the end was.

[Alec · Rating 2 out of 5]

File this under "British Journalists who are let off the chain and lose all sense of editorial discretion". This was a fine book. I'm not angry I read it. But I also don't feel like I gained anything by reading it, and the whole thing felt mainly like an excuse for Strothard to conjure flowery prose at the expense of narrative...anything. I understand that part of the point was to evoke how little we actually know about Spartacus and his endeavors, but that could have been accomplished in about 20 pages. Maybe I'm just too artistically dense to appreciate this book, but I think I'm ok with that.

[Vicki Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author travels to places in Italy where Spartacus and his army went. Along the way he meets a few other people interested in Spartacus, most notably a South Korean couple. It was pretty interesting, but the maps were not very good, there were no footnotes, although he did provide a list of books he used for research, and the pictures were unlabeled, with titles for them in a list at the end of the book.

[Norman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A funny one, this book. Sounded right up my street - a bit of military history, a bit of travel, the author - a man overcoming personal adversity - but it just didn't work. A beautifully bound hardback copy too - but then again I picked it up new for a quid in a remaindered book store near King's Cross so maybe it didn't work for others too.

[Brian Haines · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts well as a combination travelogue, history and reflection. Stothard approximately follows Spartacus' journey through southern Italy, using the events and sites as a way of looking how ancient Rome viewed personal and social morality, while remaining aware of the comparison with the present day. One particularly striking section looks at the shocking reaction of holiday makers to the death of two Gypsy children, which I remember being in the news about 10 years ago. But about halfway through he seems to lose the thread. Spartacus' itinerary is only vaguely known and retold: suddenly he's somehow got to the foothills of the Alps; just as suddenly he's back near Rome. And the reflections of the author start wandering too, somewhat incoherently. While the story of the slave revolt had a clear and gruesome ending, Spartacus himself just disappeared, presumed to be one among a heap of corpses. Just as the book suffers from the lack of a clear, comprehensive map, we end up not quite knowing where we've been.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part travel book, part memoir, Peter Stothard's journey in the footsteps of Spartacus and his followers is often very interesting but, overall, suffers from being a bit too diffuse, a bit too opaque. He has a tendency to circle around topics, examining them briefly, dropping them and then coming back to them later, as well as a tendency to refer obliquely to fairly obscure figures form the ancient world. It often feels more teasing than satisfying. but perhaps that's just because of my ignorance A decent map of his travels would have helped. Those that are included are no real use at all. Nonetheless, he does turn up some intriguing fragments about the eponymous slave and the terror he provoked, as well as enough details about his own motivation to hold this reader's attention.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have a strong background in classics and Roman history I think this could be fun. For me it was a struggle as the journey is not documented with maps or clear locations and the chronology jumps to include interesting anecdotes tangential to the topic.

[Oliver]

DNF
I got about halfway through and realized I didn’t remember one thing. The story of Spartacus is fascinating but the way it’s told in this piece is too floaty and theory-heavy to keep me grounded, personally.

[Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spartacus, the leader of a slave revolt against Rome in 73-71 B.C., has held a fascination for me and many others during the past two millenniums. The past two centuries, Spartacus has been a favorite to many on the right and left. Karl Marx listed him as a hero.
One of my favorite movies is the 1960 "Spartacus" with Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, and Laurence Olivier, directed by Stanley Kubrick. And one of my favorite pieces of music is the three suites of music drawn from Aram Khachaturian’s 1956 ballet "Spartacus."
"On The Spartacus Road: A Journey Through Ancient Italy" by Peter Stothard combines history, literature, travelogue, and memoir as he travels the length of Italy during the early 21st century in the footsteps of Spartacus.
Stothard drove from Rome to Capua, where the slave revolt began in 73 B.C., to Mount Vesuvius, where the slaves built their initial fortified position, to the heel of Italy and up to the foothills of the Alps, detailing Spartacus’ army defeating several Roman legions sent against it. Stothard continued back down to the toe of Italy where Marcus Licinius Crassus finally defeated the slave army in 71 B.C. and crucified the survivors along the Appian Way.
He describes the present day scenes and quotes from Roman and Greek poets and historians such as Pliny, Plutarch, Horace, Sallust, and others, who were mostly hostile to Spartacus and his revolt against the established order.
“Was Spartacus a great man? Many have argued so. Karl Marx considered him one of his favourite heroes of all time. Garibaldi made him his model for uniting and freeing Italy. For Voltaire the Spartacus war was the only ‘just war’ in all history. Kirk Douglas and other film-makers and novelists agreed, attributing to him their own passions and ideas, seeing seeds of the future that may or may not have been there, creating myths and legends on an epic scale.
“Others have either gently or violently disagreed. For [Roman senator and writer] Symmachus and his friends in the former capital of an empire, Spartacus was still an expletive.”
This is not a book for someone wanting to be introduced to the life of Spartacus. It would be better to read Howard Fast’s 1951 novel "Spartacus," the works of modern biographers and historians or the accounts by Roman historians. But to someone already familiar with the Thracian slave leader, Stothard’s book will be a welcomed addition.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting idea, to follow in the footsteps of Spartacus and the revolting slaves, is given an extra fillip by Stothard's knowledge of classical Latin sources. I read it before going off for a holiday in southern Italy. It becomes much more than a travelogue,however. he speaks to plenty of present-day residents as he makes his journey south from Capua, ending up with the mass crucifixions on the road to Rome. His ability to bring these authors to life, indicating the particular track record and bias of each one, is underpinned by his past experience as the editor of a national newspaper. The other element in the book is Stothard's personal journey as a cancer survivor which led to him leaving journalism for several years. This is a book that is satisfying on many different levels as well as being elegantly written.

[Leonardo Etcheto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done. The book has a great personal and historical tone. It is obvious that the ancient writers and thoughts that Stothard discusses are highly significant for him. The idea of actually traveling the path taken by Spartacus literally and in the written record works very well as the structure of the book. The focus works very well, it is so easy to go big picture when talking about the Romans, and then it all gets muddled. Here Stothard speaks of one of the stranger wars and the vagaries of history shown in what has survived and what has been lost. He does a good job of making the Roman writer’s human, and maintaining the fog of history around Spartacus himself. Very, very enjoyable and instructive read.

[Paul King · Rating 4 out of 5]

As other users have stated, this book is not pure history but detours through Italy as it is today, anecdotes and ancient philosophy. It even mentions the author's fight with cancer, although even then you would hardly call it a memoir.

Stothard explains that we don't know much about Spartacus. Even the few accounts from Roman writers are fragmentary or possibly unreliable. But if you read this book you will learn a lot more about other parts of Roman history, gladiators and country life.

This book suffers from too broad a focus, so you need some patience. I still found it rewarding and recommend it to anyone interested in classical history.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely a classicist's book. Having said that, I found it a very frustrating read. I found the first 50 pages plus slightly 'bumptious ' especially in its references to scholars like Fraenkel and Toynbee. I also found the choice of illustrations and impenetrable maps incomprehensible. Still, I would lie if I did not say I was hooked. It was a very good read. I would have preferred a bit more clarity on the Spartacus side of events but, perhaps, as Mr Stothard points out, there is a deliberate lack of historical facts about the man. At least we can forget the Kirk Douglas and Stanley Kubrik version of events.

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did read it and I think that Stothard knows his subject ... But unfortunately that is the the books downfall ... In relation to Spartacus it almost seems his way of telling us that little is known of the man himself, and even the slave revolt, that he finds it necessary to delve into an array of other facts, history, characters, which are only related in the sense that they were relevant to the time.

Someone with little prior knowledge of the subject, will I feel rapidly lose their way in this work. Perhaps it's for the academic?

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book should be filed under "British Journalists that are let off the chain and lose all sense of editorial discretion". This was a good book. I'm not unhappy that I read it. But I also don't think that I gained anything by reading it. It felt like an excuse for Strothard to conjure up flowery prose at the expense of facts and narrative. Maybe this was to show how little we really know about what Spartacus was up to and where he and his army went. But that could be written into an essay and not a book.

[Jenny Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and thought it was a brilliant piece of writing. You probably need to have some background in the classics and Roman history to begin to understand how good it is. It isn't so much about Spartacus and his rebellion as it is about how Romans and Greeks wrote about history. But because of how creative this book is, any attempt to summarize it doesn't do it justice.

A must read for anyone who finds Classical Roman history and culture fascinating.

[Lisa Houlihan]

Running low on (paper) reading material, I selected this from the English-language section of a bookstore in Rome. Stothard is or was a journalist who presumably wrote for a living, but you'd never know from this. Uncertain in its structure, needlessly roundabout in its syntax, rambling in narrative, this book annoyed me so much I read Economist and Outside magazines instead of this book on a plane and left it, 2/3 unread, in an airport.

[John Cain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts are interesting. Some of the details of life in a state based on slave labor are new to me, but over all the style is self absorbed. He seems more interested in giving us flashes of facts to show how smart he is rather than a narrative that leads to anywhere worth going to.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The mixture of so many classical stories, histories and the present day was at times hard to follow but really interesting. Made me want to read and study the classics and make some sense of the thousand years or so of Roman power.

[Ehud Ur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating concept, but poorly (dare I say sloppily) executed. This book could use a good editor, which is ironic, since that is exactly what Sir Peter does for his day job. Impenetrable maps and obscure photos do not help with the confusion

[Rob Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant scoharliship, and a very enjoyable journey theough Italy with a modern and ancient perspective. Peter S is a magnificent writer, as his other books show. If you have an interest in Roman History, and Spartucus in particular, then read this wonderful book.

[Ck · Rating 4 out of 5]

More philosophical and psychology than expected, but interesting and informative. Considers the place of death in the human psyche and in the metaphysical quest for Truth.

[Joseph Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Very slow moving. Very. Slow. Occasionally interesting, though.