Thallus and his small band of gladiators escaped to Mount Vesuvius, where they obtained gladiator arms from a moving carriage. This was more than a century before it erupted, and the mountain was actually planted in vines and had lush farmland nearby when Spartacus lived. Spartacus and his co-leaders, Crixus and Oenomaus, searched the countryside for resources and slaves on their way. Spartacus' rising force was not taken seriously by Rome. The Republic's military was battling in Spain, Southeast Europe, and Crete at the time of his escape. Furthermore, a gang of fugitive slaves was not regarded as posing a major threat to Roman troops. The Romans sent Gaius Claudius Glaber, a praetor, to form an army to smash the slave revolt. This man, along with another named Publius Valerius who was dispatched later, “did not command the regular citizen army of legions, but rather whatever forces they could hastily conscript on the spot,” according to Appian, a second-century C.E. writer. As a result of underplaying the threat which the slave army posed and Spartacus’s military prowess, the roman legions are defeated from a surprise attack. This first victory over the Romans helped Spartacus’s army exponentially grow in numbers. Other considerations helped the expansion of Spartacus' army. During his uprising, his army spent a lot of time in agricultural areas and small cities, which were lightly defended but had a lot of slaves. Spartacus also insisted on evenly distributing the spoils, according to ancient accounts, which made recruiting that much easier. He eventually managed to recruit non-slaves to join his rebellion. Many freedmen and other free commoners, as well as thousands of escaped slaves, entered their ranks, allowing them to create such a powerful army. Spartacus’s will to free other slaves just like him attracted many to join his army, this is what brought Thallus in and will bring many others to fight for freedom.
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