Slaves and gladiators

Through Rome’s victories captives were sold as slaves and the number of slaves grew greatly. A slave was his owner’s property and the laws did not protect him. Slaves had no interest in their work, so their labour became unproductive. Many landowners began dividing land into small plots and renting them to free poor people — coloni; a colonus gave part of the harvest to the landowner. Some slaves became “hut slaves”, living with their own house and plot. Romans loved watching gladiator fights; gladiators were mostly slaves or captives who fought in amphitheatres. The largest amphitheatre was the Colosseum (opened in 80 CE), seating about 50,000 spectators; it still stands today. In 73–71 BCE the Thracian gladiator Spartacus escaped from a gladiator school at Capua and raised a revolt. Tens of thousands of slaves joined him and he defeated an army stationed at Mount Vesuvius. Then disagreements arose; the army of the general Crassus defeated the rebels in 71 BCE and Spartacus died in battle.