Spartacus

by Lewis Grassic Gibbon

Overview

First Published in 1933, Spartacus is an inspiring and powerful account of the uprising of the slaves against the Roman Empire in 73BC, led by the gladiator Spartacus. For Karl Marx, Spartacus was 'the most splendid fellow that all ancient history has to show; great general, noble character, real representative of the ancient proletariat'. For Grassic Gibbon, a lifelong follower of Marx and a successful historian of early civilisations, Spartacus allowed him to focus on his fiercely held beliefs in the nature of society, the freedom of the individual, and the inevitable collapse of 'civilisation'. Grassic Gibbon's knowledge is impressive; the book is a fine read as fiction, as adventure and as a history of people in the grip of exploitation and oppression.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639360789
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	11/15/2021
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Lewis Grassic Gibbon (1901-1935) was the pen name of James Leslie Mitchell, one of the outstanding figures in Scottish literature. Acclaimed the world over for stories of great power and originality, his trilogy of novels A Scots Quair is his most renowned literary work. Gibbon was amazingly prolific and literally worked himself to death, producing seventeen books in seven years.

Lewis Grassic Gibbon (1901-1935) was the pen name of James Leslie Mitchell, one of the outstanding figures in Scottish literature. Acclaimed the world over for stories of great power and originality, his trilogy of novels A Scots Quair is his most renowned literary work. Gibbon was amazingly prolific and literally worked himself to death, producing seventeen books in seven years.

Read an Excerpt

“Spartacus is told with Gibbon’s characteristic verve and economy. As everywhere in Gibbon’s work, the reader is drawn without preamble into the fully active plot. On balance, the style works triumphantly. Narrow, brutal, shaped by forces beyond its control, continuously threatened by sudden death or agonizing retribution by a ruthless army of Masters, the slave experience forming the totality of this narrative is caught with unpleasant but accurate forces. It was a desperate time—and Gibbon realistically recreates that desperation.”—Ian Campbell, from the Introduction

Table of Contents

	Introduction	v
	Note on the Text	xxv
	An Introductory Bibliography to J. L. Mitchell	xxviii
I	Insurrection	1
II	Legio Libera	55
III	Rex Servorum	85
IV	Rome	117
V	In Rhegium	159
VI	The Masters	179