He was a Gaul (his name means "one with curly hair" in Gaulish), and had been a slave for several years before the revolt. Crixus had fought for the Allobroges against the Romans and had been captured. Like his companions, Crixus had trained as a gladiator in Capua. In several early engagements, his company of Celtic gladiators changed the tide of battle by attacking weak points exposed by the slave army.
Initially the slave army proved very successful, defeating the forces the Roman Senate sent to put down the insurrection. However, Crixus separated from Spartacus towards the end of the year. Spartacus wanted to flee for the slaves' homelands in Gaul and the Balkans, but Crixus is said to have set his heart on plunder, and stayed on in southern Italy.
In the spring of 72 BC one of the two Roman consuls sent to quash the rebellion, Lucius Gellius Publicola, caught up with Crixus and his forces, known as the Celts and Germanic tribesmen, in the region of Apulia. In the ensuing battle Crixus used his Germanic infantry to soften up the Romans before committing his elite Celtic gladiators, however his Germanic fighters were routed and Crixus was forced to fight a losing defensive action. Crixus was killed and his 30,000 strong army defeated.
In the manner of Roman aristocrats, Spartacus honored the memory of the ex-gladiator Crixus with funeral games at which 300 Roman prisoners-of-war were forced to fight to the death like gladiators.
In Popular Culture
- Crixus appears as a character in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus.
Notes
References
- Appian, Civil Wars 1.116
- Livy, Perochiae 96
- Florus, Epitome 2.8.20
- Sallust, Fragmenta Historiarum 3
- Smith, William (1870), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology Vol 1 p. 896
- Bradley, Keith. Slavery and Rebellion in the Roman World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. ISBN 0253211697
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Last updated on Sunday June 15, 2008 at 22:22:52 PDT (GMT -0700)
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