Spartacus (; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts of his life come primarily from Plutarch and Appian, who wrote more than a century after his death. Plutarch's Life of Crassus and Appian's Civil Wars provide the most detailed accounts of the slave revolt. Although Spartacus is a significant figure in Roman history, no contemporary sources exist, and all acc…