Someone googled the following question into their web site before coming to Ancient Rome Refocused.
“How do we know that Spartacus died if his body was never found?”
It is said when filming the scene where Spartacus was crucified that the director purposely called lunch for the crew and actors leaving Douglas still on the cross.
It is a nice idea to think about. That maybe he was able to get away, and wound up living on some island, but unfortunately reality is never quite like that. Anyway, if he was captured after the battle he would have wound up with the same fate of being crucified on the road back to Rome. The 1964 movie Spartacus with Kirk Douglas makes this claim, and this was in accordance with historical records which said over 6000 prisoners were crucified on both sides of the road all the way back to the gates of Rome.
No. There is no direct evidence. But in addition I doubt very many people laid eyes on him. Their encampment was probably very large, over 140,000 slaves, and those familar with him were probably only the army’s leaders and his close family. If the camp moved, it came by word of mouth. If there were instructions, it came from underlings. I am doubtful that there was anything even close to a camp roster. Many in the Spartacus War died anonymously. We know that there was a Spartacus, we know because of the meticulous accounting of slaves (seen as property) at that time. We know he escaped to begin the slave war, and that is probably the one solid piece of data we have on him. There were no pictures to record his likeness and only the rich could afford to have images made in their likenesses to preserve their names.
Anyway, didn’t Spartacus kill his horse to prove to his army that he was going to stand with them to the end? If this final act was true, it tells that he knew that there was no escape.
Rob Cain has traveled extensively through Europe, Italy, and Egypt. He was formerly on active duty with the United States Army. He is a fan of history, and enjoys reading books on the history of Rome. He currently has a podcast presentation on itunes and hipcast. The blog is for the free and open discussion of Ancient Rome based on Mr. Cain's observations noted in his podcast. Most episodes start out with an original dramatic narration written by Mr. Cain. In the podcasts he will include his own unique commentary, and interviews with subject matter experts. Comments are welcome and will be highlighted on the show. 
