Gladiators: The Real Spartacus

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Spartacus is probably the most famous gladiator in history but how much of his legend is actually true? Dan is joined by Dr Rhiannon Evans, from Melbourne’s Le Trobe University, a leading expert in Ancient History and one of the hosts of the Emperors of Rome podcast to find out. They trace what little we know of his origins, his life in the gladiator school where he led a kitchen revolution and escaped with a cohort of other enslaved fighters before raising an army to fight a revolt that pushed the Roman Empire to the brink. From the Roman retaliation to the grisly fate that met the survivors, Dan and Rhiannon unravel the fact from the fiction.

You can listen to Emperors of Rome, wherever you get your podcasts.

This is episode 3 of a 4-part mini-series 'Gladiators'.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore

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Transcript

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0:00.0	So, folks, I know that as history lovers, you need more history content that I can possibly give you in a week.
0:06.1	So I want to point you to one of my favourite history podcasts at the moment.
0:09.4	You've probably seen it on your podcast players already.
0:11.5	Well, this is your notice to finally hit play.
0:14.1	It's the Legacy podcast hosted by the incredible historian, Peter Frankapan, who we've had in this show many times,
0:19.3	and the wonderful broadcaster Afua Hirsch. Each season, they do a deep dive into the most extraordinary men and women in history,
0:26.7	revealing the kind of astonishing details and deep history that I know all you history hit fans love.
0:32.8	Did you know that Winston Churchill favoured higher taxes for the wealthy, or that Marilyn Monroe set up
0:38.2	our own production company to take on Hollywood, that Bob Marley was a workaholic, or that
0:43.2	Thatcher couldn't afford to work in politics until a Labor bill was passed, giving MPs actual
0:48.4	salaries. The things they bring to the fore each season really make you reassess these famous names,
0:54.9	whether they deserve the reputations they have, good or bad.
0:59.1	They've recently done a series on Alan Turing, Gorbachev, Nina Simone,
1:03.0	and their current one is on a name that it'll be fairly familiar with, Winston Churchill.
1:08.4	So, follow Legacy on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcast. You can
1:12.3	binge entire seasons early and ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
1:18.1	It's a goodie. Trust me.
1:20.2	No home. No address. No address. No bank account. No bank account. No job. No job. No home. No address. No bank account. No job. No bank account. No job. No home.
1:39.2	It's time to break the vicious circle. We're working with charities like shelter to provide a bank account for
1:45.4	people who are homeless. Such HSBCUK, no fixed address.
1:53.7	The fate of the gladiator in ancient Rome was grim.
2:01.6	Some could win their freedom. They could retire after a long, successful career.
	...

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