I am Spartacus!

1. Batiaus Gladiator School

Roma, Lazio

Book Now

The current town bearing the name of Capua is a modern construction built in 856AD after Saracens burned the original to the ground. The original town is a couple of miles to the southwest and is known as Santa Maria Capua Vetere. At the town's Gladiator Museum, which is believed to be located on the probable site of the famous Batiaus Gladiator School, you can find out about life in the arena. At a later point in time, an amphitheater was also built on the site, and visitors can explore the remains of what is still the second largest standing gladiatorial arena (after Rome's Coliseum). Gladiatorial battles to the death were a cruel and popular form of entertainment throughout the ancient Roman Republic. There were many gladiator schools in existence, each tasked with training and supplying the constant demand for fighting men in the Republic's circuses. So it was here, in 76BC, that Spartacus found himself sold to the gladiator agent Lentulus Batiaus of Capua, just north of Naples. Although it was a difficult life, gladiators did receive three meals a day, training, equipment and medical care. If they managed to survive in the arena for five years, they were likely to be set free, but reaching this goal was a rarity. Extremely cruel treatment of slaves had led to previous revolts, particularly in Sicily in 135BC. In 73BC, the gladiators at Capua started to plot their own escape. They were, however, betrayed, and in the end, only a third of their number managed to break out. The group consisted of 78 well-trained gladiators, who - arming themselves with knives, cleavers and skewers from the kitchen - got away. After a brief skirmish with their guards, the gladiators scaled the walls of the compound and made it onto the streets of Capua. It was here that, by chance, they discovered a wagon loaded with weapons and armor that was destined for the amphitheater. Now properly armed and equipped, they made their way out of the city and towards the towering mountain of Vesuvius 20 miles south.