Spartacus is one of the Ancient World's most famous figures. A Thracian soldier, Spartacus was captured by Romans and sold as a slave for training as a gladiator. With 70 other gladiators, he escaped and hid on Mount Vesuvius, where he raised an army of rebel slaves and defeated two Roman legions. But Roman vengeance was soon delivered by Crassus, who put an end to Spartacus's desperate bid for freedom and crucified over 6,000 men along the Via Appia as warning to other slaves in 71 BC.