"The breakout of Spartacus and his fellow gladiators was initially regarded as being a minor incident. But by the time the Roman praetor found them Spartacus' rising had grown to an army of 3,000 men. In the first of several overwhelming victories they cut the Roman forces to pieces. By the time the slave army was captured and defeated, it numbered 70,000 and had come close to changing the structure of the Roman world."--BOOK JACKET.