ПРВИ РОБОВСКИ РАТ НА СИЦИЛИЈИ: УЗРОЦИ, КАРАКТЕР И НАСЛЕЂЕ
The First Sicilian Slave War: Causes, Character and Legacy

Summary/Abstract: Between ca. 140 and 132 BC Sicily witnessed a series of events unparalleled in world history up to that point. Massive and surprisingly well organized slave uprising took place, an uprising that would for several years deprive the Romans of the most of the island, and would lead, briefly, to creation of the kingdom of former slaves. It would take several years of hard fighting and many failed attempts before the Roman state regained full control of the island. The uprising was born from a very particular combination of socio-economic factors. Many Sicilian slaves were not born as such, but were recently enslaved free men. The majority of them were of eastern origin, from one of the Greek-speaking countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, most notably from the declining Seleucid Kingdom (“Syria”). Wars and general instability that engulfed the largest Hellenistic state by the mid-2nd century BC provided for seemingly inexhaustible source of inexpensive slaves flooding the slave-markets of the Aegean, Italy and Sicily. The enslaved, mostly younger men, were primarily used in agriculture. They were subjected to harsh working and living conditions, poorly fed and provided for, but were left with comparatively little oversight. The uprising began on the estate of a particularly cruel and sadistic slave owner, one Damophilus of Enna, and spread from there like wildfire. Already during the first night, rebels took the fortified town of Enna and turned it into the center of all future actions. Although initially preoccupied with acts of revenge against the slave owners, acts that were performed with the utmost cruelty, slaves were quick to establish the foundations of a more permanent state-like organization. They formed a kind of popular assembly and elected a leader, who immediately proclaimed himself king. The new ruler, a man from Syria called Eunus, was chosen because of his reputation as a prophet and miracle worker. He believed himself to be under the special protection of the goddess Atargatis (“Syrian Goddess” as she was known to Greek and Roman writers) and, in this capacity, he foretold the success of the planned venture. All of the known leaders of the revolt came from the Eastern Mediterranean, in fact, all but one were from the Seleucid Kingdom. This goes a long way to explain various details of organization and ideology of the new slave kingdom. It was in many respects a western copy of the Seleucid Kingdom. There was a royal court, with appropriate personnel and ceremonies, a royal council, a Hellenistic military and civic hierarchy, while the rebel host was organized into royal army. The new king took the Seleucid dynastic name Antiochus. There was even a modest royal coinage. One aspect of the rebels’ activities is puzzling to some modern scholars. Former slaves made themselves free through violent action, but seemingly did not strive to liberate all the slaves on the island, nor to abolish slavery as such. Those slaves that would join the movement were set free, but likewise, the surviving slaveholders and captured enemy soldiers who were not immediately ransomed, were turned into slaves. Eunus and his followers were not moved by anything resembling anti-slavery or abolitionist ideology, or any political ideology in the modern sense. The rebels did make some attempts to attract the impoverished free population of the island, but the success of this effort was minimal. While generally hostile to the wealthy class, the free poor could not identify themselves with the new Hellenistic kingdom of Eunus. The Romans were slow to respond. The wider geopolitical situation kept their military forces occupied elsewhere in the Mediterranean. For several years – it is difficult to say how long exactly due to uncertain chronological framework – the rebels fought only with local levies led by provincial governors and their staff. This enabled them to gain possession of most of the island, including a number of fortified cities, and to be victorious in several pitched battles. However, the embarrassment these defeats caused for the Romans finally warranted the deployment of consular armies, beginning in 134 BC. The end of the Numantine War in 133 BC freed up veteran legions to be used against the rebels in Sicily. Ultimately, the gap in numbers, material resources, military experience and professional knowledge between the rebels and the Romans was far too wide for any outcome other than the total Roman victory. This took place with the fall of Enna late in 132 BC. The First Sicilian Slave War left a strong impression on the contemporaries and had wide-ranging consequences, in both space and time. News of Roman defeat at the hands of slaves inspired several similar attempts in Italy, Greece and elsewhere. Fear of similar events in the future led Romans to maintain a large garrison in Enna for decades. In spite of that, the Second Slave War took place thirty years later (104–101 BC). Three decades later still (72 BC) Spartacus and his men made attempts to reach Sicily and raise local slaves, in emulation of Eunus. These events inspired a considerable written output in antiquity, mostly lost today. As far as modern perception is concerned, the great slave revolt in Sicily remains fairly neglected, hidden in the shadow of the more popular and better known War of Spartacus in Italy.

• Details
• Contents