A Growing Force
The Romans still didn’t appear to take the threat seriously even after the destruction of Glaber’s forces. Instead of sending a large military presence to crush the rebellion, Rome sent Publius Varinius to track the insurgents. He divided his army into two with Furius and Cossinius given command of these groups. Varinius was seemingly unaware that the rebel force now exceeded 40,000 which may explain why he didn’t keep his army together. In any case, Furius and his 2,000 man column suffered a surprise attack and were destroyed. Spartacus quickly located Cossinius at Herculaneum and defeated him in battle. The Roman fled but was caught and killed by the slaves.
The rebels went south and were pursued by Varinius. The Roman praetor met Spartacus in battle at Lucania but discovered that some of his soldiers refused to fight. Foolishly, Varinius still launched his attack and was comprehensively beaten. The rebels enjoyed further successes but hadn’t yet faced veterans of wars in Germany, Gaul, and Spain. Spartacus was apparently well aware of this good fortune and advocated a move to the Alps to regroup. However, up to 30,000 men, led by Crixus, wanted to stay and plunder and they ultimately separated from the main army.
While it’s hard to imagine the rebels beating the full might of the Roman army, in any case, this split was a disaster and ultimately spelled doom. By 72 BC, the Senate understood the threat and sent two armies of experienced soldiers led by consuls Lentulus and Gellius. They found it easy to track the path of destruction left by Crixus and Gellius sent praetor Quintus Arrius to deal with the enemy. Arrius surrounded Crixus’ force near Mount Garganus and up to two-thirds of the slaves were killed including Crixus.