The Third Servile War - Marcus Crassus Defeated by Spartacus?

If Spartacus had been able to defeat and annihilate the Legions Marcus Crassus at the Battle of the Siler River with relatively few casualties (3,000-5,000 dead) could his slave army had been able to march North, (outrunning the Legions of Lucullus at the same time) confront Pompeius Magnus, defeat him and consequently sack Rome? Or would the Legions of Pompei had saved Rome from annihilation at the hands of Spartacus' slaves?

And I'm new to this website, so feel free to give me some tips about ancient Roman history discussion.
 
Too many Roman legions, not enough trained warriors at Spartacus' call. Eventually his luck is going to end. The Romans eventually learn not to allow themselves to be defeated in detail and play to their strengths --- organization, training, discipline, numbers, and flexibility of the legion in meeting varied tactics.
 
If Spartacus had been able to defeat and annihilate the Legions Marcus Crassus at the Battle of the Siler River with relatively few casualties (3,000-5,000 dead) could his slave army had been able to march North, (outrunning the Legions of Lucullus at the same time) confront Pompeius Magnus, defeat him and consequently sack Rome? Or would the Legions of Pompei had saved Rome from annihilation at the hands of Spartacus' slaves?

And I'm new to this website, so feel free to give me some tips about ancient Roman history discussion.

Annihilating Crassus' army is plausible and possible. Crassus has been known to make military mistakes.

Beating Crassus, Pompei and every other Roman is impossible with Spartacus' resource.
 
Was reading some articles about what were Sparticus's endgame plans, but it seems a big part of his plan was to keep the rebellion a slave rebellion. It's been a few months since I read the articles so I can't remember exactly who, but he turned away some other people who wanted to join that might have been able to link his cause into forming a greater rebellion (though he did allow some of the poor local herders to join). This all formed into his and his fellow leaders goal of most likely just wanting to get the hell out of Italy.

So maybe if Sparticus was convinced otherwise, he might have been able to spread his revolt to a larger range of the populace and had the ability to sack Rome. But in the end, they weren't looking to overthrow Rome or to end slavery in Rome as much as escaping it.
 

John Farson

Banned
Spartacus kills Crassus in a gloriously brutal and bloody fashion in the TV series, and the series itself lasts for an episode or two longer.:D
 
Long term

Spartacus looses eventually, the question that comes to my mind is that there would be no Crassus to be the third member of the triumvirate and any death of. Crassus in the servile war will have significant butterflies for the timeframe for the fall of the Republic
 
Spartacus's best chance lies with getting the hell out of Italy. After that, it's clear he wanted to link up with someone-either Sertorius in Spain or head into Greece and gain the support of Mithradates (whom he may have served under as a soldier). If he joins Sertorius before hes defeated, Pompey might be screwed.
 

Dirk

Banned
Oh boy, Pompey was popular and powerful enough from simply beating Sertorius IOTL, I can't even imagine what defeating Spartacus too would bring him.
 

Dirk

Banned
He did get the credit for defeating Spartacus, which increased his popularity immensely.

He got the credit for killing the last of the fleeing rebels, yes, but I'm pretty sure that Pompey, with what we know of him, was hoping that Crassus would lose miserably. There's a reason that Crassus and Pompey were elected consuls together, instead of Pompey and a friend/puppet, or perhaps Metellus Pius (if Pius even wanted the position again).
 
He got the credit for killing the last of the fleeing rebels, yes, but I'm pretty sure that Pompey, with what we know of him, was hoping that Crassus would lose miserably. There's a reason that Crassus and Pompey were elected consuls together, instead of Pompey and a friend/puppet, or perhaps Metellus Pius (if Pius even wanted the position again).

Pompey was given a triumph for defeating Spartacus. That should show who's propaganda machine ran better. And yes, there was a reason Pompey and Crassus had to share the consulship, but it wasn't because Crassus defeated the rebellion. Crassus was the most politically connected man in the senate. He had the money, influence and the connections to make politics a living hell for Pompey and Pompey was well aware of this fact. He was a master of winning over the back bench-the men who Sulla placed into his enlarged Senate to just fill up the seats and had no political relevance on their own. Most were loyal to Crassus. That's why they shared the consulship-Pompey could not afford to have Crassus, on top of the political establishment, as an out and out enemy.
 
The only way he could have succeded is if Spartacus went to Sicily early which had a shit ton of slaves which could be used to recruit a massive army. Maybe a short lived free state of Sicily? King Spartacus of Sicily? And alliance with Mithridates? The butterflies are endless with that. Now that is an idea for a TL :p. Anyway Pompey would have crushed him badly.
 
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