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BY THE FI I {ESI DE. A ROMAN SLAVE. In the old time, when a man was taken prisoner in war, he was put to death or sold into slavery. The Romans were continually reaching out for more land and for more wealth and more power, and hence it was that slaves became more numerous in the Roman country than the free citizens. For they were ever successful in their wars and brought home great numbers of slaves from every part of the world. They were » put to all sorts of service. Some of them had hard tasks, oth ers easy ones. Some worked in the house and some in the fields. The only crime these slaves had committed was that they loved their own homes well enough to fight for them, and had been defeated. In the eyes of the world it was then, as now, a bad thing to fail. Many a man has been hung for try ing to do just what George Wash ington succeeded in doing. I remember to have read some where about the way to tell those mushrooms which are good to eat, from those which are a deadly pois on. It was this: ts the mushroom you eat makes you feel good all over and whets your appetite for more, it’s all right. But if, on the other hand, you are seized with mortal pains and ingloriously die, then you may reasonably conclude that you got hold of the wrong mushroom. It takes this sort of a test to prove the difference, because, otherwise, the two kinds are just alike. Its the same way with men. You never can tell whether a Reformer is a Patriot or a Traitor till you see whether he succeeds or fails: wheth er his fellow mortals crown his head with wreaths, or w’hether they whirl in and chop it off with an axe. If the Reformer succeeds and gets his crown, as Washington did, then History says he was a Patriot. If he fails and gets a gallows, as Emmett did, he is called a Traitor. Yet they both tried to do the very same thing. One of the tasks the Roman Slaves were made to do was to fight each other. Their Masters loved to see blood flow:—especially the blood of the people. So the strongest of the Slaves were trained to fight with knives and swords, so that their lordly Masters might have the pleas ure of seeing them kill each other according to strict scientific princi ples. Sometimes a Roman grandee died and his sons took it into their heads that it would please the departed to see some good fighting going on at his funeral. So they would bring a ffew dozen of the male Slaves, arm them with swords, and compel them to cut one another to pieces. In those days the body of the dead was placed on a large pile of wood, and, after everything had been done which custom required, they would set fire to the wood and burn up the whole business, corpse and all. Then they would gather up a handful or two of the ashes, put them in a large mouthed jug (which they called urns), neatly label it with the name of “Un cle Cato ” or “ Cousin Pompey ” or “Aunt Silvia” as the case may be, and there was an end of it. The jug was put off to one side, on a con venient shelf, and if there was ever any demand for the remains of Un cle Cato or Aunt Silvia, there they were in the jug. There was no great undertaker’s bill for burial expenses to take up half of the estate. The ancient heathens were a slow people in some respects, and it was left to us modern Christians to invent that form of robbery. Well, as I said, these poor Slaves W’ere frequently forced to fight and mangle each other, and to die a pit iable death around the funeral fire, in order that their Master might have a departure fitting his rank. His sons thought they owed him this lit tle attention, and they had an idea that it soothed him and made him rest easier to have a few men killed while he was being burnt. Another and a more general way in which these combats were had was in the theatre. It was called the amphi-theatre. The building usually consisted of a huge circle of stone work, with seats rising one above the other on the inside, and in the centre was the open space it en closed, called the arena. On those seats eat the Romans while the Slaves, trained to fight (gladiators they were called), hewed and hacked and pierc ed each other with swords in the arena. It was a most horrible prac tice and lasted many hundreds of pears. In one of their raids on their PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER, ATLANTA, GEORGIA. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1892. neighbors, the Romans captured a Thracian shepherd-boy, named Spar tacus. He was large, splendidly formed, active and strong. So they decided to make him a gladiator. He was their slave, and this, they thought, was the best work they could put him at. They felt convinced that a man of his build, when prop erly trained, would furnish them lots of sport killing other men. He was trained accordingly. He was taught all the skill of the Roman soldier. He was made to exercise it in due time. Many a combat, to the death, did he have with men who had done him no wrong. He was helpless, and so were they. He was compelled to fight them and they were compelled to fight him. It is said that he had to fight his own brother, not knowing who it was till after the hel met was taken off the dying man. Then he saw it was his younger brother whom he had killed to furn ish sport for his masters ! Is it any wonder his soul burst into flame and that he made a dash for freedom ? He did so. He organized his fel low-gladiators, watched his chance, and one night he and seventy-seven of them fought their way out of the city and took refuge in the crater of Mount Vesuvius. A small band of soldiers were sent against them. Spartacus stole upon them in the night, cut them to pieces, seized all their weapons and went back to the mountain. The news of this victory spread like wildfire. The thousands of slaves all over the country began to breathe the breath of hope. Hun dreds of them threw down their tools and hurried to join Spartacus. His little band swelled into an army. Three thousand Roman soldiers were sent against him. He sprang upon them with all the spirit of Na poleon and routed them utterly. The Roman historians have told us as little as possible about this struggle of the Slaves for freedom. The details are few and the facts disputed. But we can gather enough to arrive at the conclusion that this second victory of Spartacus shook the Roman world like an earthquake. It is worth our while to study the state of things then existing. In the story of the Gracchi I have told you how a few great landlords gobbled up all the public lands which belonged rightfully to all the citizens equally. The small farmers were crowded out. This, of course, bred dissatisfac tion. The people who had been un justly deprived of their homes only wanted a leader and the opportunity. They were in the mood to fight. Then, again, these large landlords worked the public lands with slave labor. It got to the point in Rome, just as it did in our country thirty years ago, that a poor freeman who owned no Slaves was sometimes worse off than the Slaves. . This was a second cause for dis satisfaction. Then, again, the capi talists advanced the rates of interest to a ruinous figure and the price of money steadily advanced, crushing the life from thousands of farms and from thousands of shops every year. The rich grew richer and the poor grew poorer. Those who suffered from this usury were of course unhappy and the greed of capitalists, unchecked by law, was a third source of dissatis faction. Then came the question of eman cipation. All the Slaves wanted freedom. Their lot was, at least, a hard one. Generally they were not allowed to have wives. They could hold no property. No law could protect them from the cruelty of hard Masters. They were chained to gether in gangs and made to labor in the fields, the mines, the quarries and the shops. Some were trained to fight wild beasts for the amusement of elegant audiences of “high society.” Some were trained to fight each other and to make the theatre run with human blood, in order that the strong muscles of the rude Slaves might furnish sport for the refined brutes who owned them. Occasionally a very great noble would give a feast and invite all the big bugs, male and female, to come. He wmuld spread himself to make it a tip-top affair. Every good thing to eat from a wild boar to a spring chicken was laid on the Table. Everything on earth that was good to drink (except milk and -water) was made ready. Then they all filed in, and the most perfect, Tariff-Reform- Club way, they began to stuff them selves. When it was over they felt the need of something lively. They were dull. The man who makes speeches at the dinner table had not then been invented, and these be nighted heathen did not know what to do with themselves. So the giver of the feast would fetch in a band of Gladiators and set them to cutting each other with swords. The well stuffed guests would range themselves around in easy, high bred attitudes and watch the murders which were being com mitted for their amusement. It stimulated digestion. They would make bets on the different Gladia tors as you now see some forlorn people do on a chicken fight. By the time the sight grew a little tiresome to the lookers on and it was stopped, about half the slaves would be dead and the other half gashed and bleeding from numerous wounds. Then the dead were carted out like so much carrion and thrown into the River while the survivors were carried back to their chains and cells—to be cured of their hurts and to be ready to fight again. Such were only a few of the hor rors of the Roman Slave System. They believed that a Slave had no more rights than a horse. They had no conception that men were born free and equal. The Slaves, therefore, were ripe for revolt. All they wanted was leadership and organization. To them, death under the open skies, fighting for freedom, was better than death in the arena, fighting for the sport of cruel masters. So when Spartacus won his second victory, putting to flight an army of 3000 men, all these dissatisfied classes began to rally to him. He soon had a large force of well armed troops. He drilled them carefully and constantly. He was a great general and he knew he had a fear ful struggle before him. He did just what Abraham Lin coln did. He issued an Emancipa tion Proclamation. The Slaves everywhere looked upon him as their liberator. Herds men, cattle-drivers, shepherds, free laborers and the farmers who had been pushed off the public lands, composed his army which now con sisted of 10,000 men. Another Roman army was sent against Spartacus. In marching up on him it divided into two columns. He saw his chance as quickly as Napoleon would have seen it. Dash ing on the weakest division, he crushed it. Then rushing on the other, he swept it from the field. The army of Spartacus rapidly grew. It soon consisted of 70,000. The Roman General, Varius, ral lied his broken forces, gathered in reinforcements and confronted Spar tacus with numbers still greater than his own. Varinius was annihilated. Spartacus simply destroyed him and from that day to this we hear no more of Varinius. He knew when he had enough. Spartacus was now the master of the situation in all that part of the Roman Country. A band of mere Slaves, mere rag-tag and bob-tail, had cleaned up everything in sight. Don’t you know the Romans were mad I He overran all the Country, round about, took many cities, supplied his soldiers with all they wanted and then went into winter quarters just like a regular general, and not at all like a slave. At this time the Roman Senate was trying to put down the Labor Unions that existed among the free laborers of the cities and towns and country. These unions were secret societies for the benefit of the la borers and the Roman Senate was very much opposed to them. The Unions did not wish to be crushed out and the supposition is that Spar tacus got much help from them in his war for Freedom. Many of their members are known to have been in his army. In a speech which Cicero made some time after this war, he was de nouncing the Labor Unions, and he stated that many new labor societies had been formed by a Gladiator, in addition to the old ones. It is thought that he was alluding to Spartacus. If so it shows that this heroic man grasped the truth that the cause of Labor, whether free or slave, was, at bottom, the same. So he was battling both for the one and the other. While his army was in Winter Quarters he enforced strict disci pline. He allowed no acts of bru tality. He allowed no use of intoxi cating liquors. He was kind to Prisoners. His camp was a scene of law and order. He himself was such a good hus band to his noble wife, so gallant a soldier, so generous a victor, so hon- est a man that his very enemies had to praise him—after they had killed him. When Spartacus marched out of his winter quarters in the spring of the year 73 before Christ, he was at the head of 100,000 men. This shows what a tremendous Revolution was going on in the heart of the Roman Republic. Already, however, the evil spirit was at work in his army. One of his generals, named Crixus, grew jealous and created a division. Three Roman armies were on the move against the Rebels. Crixus, like a fool, separated from Spartacus and set out to get some glory on his own hook. One of the Roman armies fell in with him, gave battle, routed him and killed him. That settled his hash. Another of the lieutenants of Spartacus tried the same game with the same results. After that, the officers were content to let the Chief plan the campaign. He retreated before the Roman armies for some time but at length saw his opportunity—held one of the Roman Generals in check with a small force while he attacked the other in earnest. The contest raged all day. It was one of the fiercest battles ever fought. Spartacus won. He had captured a number of the most distinguished Roman Nobles and he decided to give Crixus some grand funeral games after the Ro man fashion. These funeral games were supposed to be highly gratify ing to a dead man. So Spartacus gave Crixus a big blow out, and in order that the affair should be in the strictest good taste and in the highest propriety he made his noble prisoners fight one another, to the death, as a part of the ceremonies. This was retaliation. With one accord all Christian nations condemn Retaliation —in others. The Roman armies combined their forces and the great battle of Pice num was fought. Not less than 250,000 men were engaged. The Romans were shamefully beaten. The army of Spartacus was now so large, it was difficult to control. He was forced to alter his plans from time to time. He wanted to march into his home Country of Thrace, where the friendly shelter of the mountains and of his brave, free people would aid him in his great struggle. His troops wished other wise. They wanted to plunder the rich cities of Italy. So Spartacus had to stay. He gained another victory over a Ro man general, named Mummius, and then retired into winter quarters. At Rome great fear existed. They realized that unless this rising of the Slaves was put down the old order of things, where one man lived in idleness off the work of others, would end. This was a change too dreadful to contemplate with any peace of mind. So they made ex tra efforts to raise new armies to quell the Rebellion. Crassus was sent out with a great force. One of his lieutenants met Spartacus, joined battle and was destroyed. This made the Romans more cau tious. They decided to quit fighting Spartacus and to try the plan of starv ing him out. He had now an army of 300,000 men. This shows that he was no mere hot-headed Rebel, but one of the greatest Leaders, Organizers and Soldiers the world ever saw. As his troops would not let him go into Thrace, he marched to the Sea and tried to get shipping for the Island of Sicily, which also belonged to Rome and where there were so many Slaves and so many disaffected laborers that he knew he would be safe. He bargained with the Pirates to carry him and his forces. He paid them the money. They then sailed away and left him blockaded by his enemies. He was on a narrow strip of land; his troops were suffering for food; the Romans had thrown up a line of entrenchments between him and the open country, and things looked squally. Spartacus was equal to the Crisis. One dark wintry night while a storm was raging, and the Romans were snoozing comfortably in their tents, he gathered up his men, dashed at the intrenchments, scaled them, cut down all op>osition and escaped into the open country. The failure of Spartacus to reach Sicily caused a revolt to take place in his own ranks. 50,000 of his sol diers left him under the command of Grannicus and Castus. They called Spartacus a coward for retreating. They wanted him to fight. He had sense enough to know when to fight and when to run, and hence they dis trusted him. These new Leaders led the angry troops to meet the Romans and they got all the fighting they will ever want in this world. 35,000 of them were killed on the spot —in_ eluding (I am pleased to say) the two Leaders who pulled away from Spartacus. Notone of these foolish men would have escaped had not Spartacus ar rived and put an end to the butchery. Soon after this he gained another victory over one of the Roman de tachments. It was unfortunate that he did so. It again puffed his sol diers up so that he could not control them. They were -willing to fight but not to retreat. Now Spartacus knew that he could not risk a general engagemen. The enemy was too large. He knew that Pompey the Great was coming from Spain -with a fresh army; that Lu cullus and his army had been recalled from Asia and were then landing close by; and that therefore he was in danger of being hemmed in by three great Armies. Like a good general he wished to withdraw while there was yet time, and to get into the mountains or out into that part of the open country where he could not be trapped in be tween the three Armies. But his troops could not be checked. They brought on the general engage ment. It was called the battle of Silarius. It commenced almost by accident in a squabble between a handful of skirmishers. Few bloodier battles have ever been fought. Few ever had so many men engaged. Spartacus still had some 300,000 according to the best information we can get. Those of his enemies, immediately in action, numbered 400,000. . Just think of it! Nearly a million human beings standing up all day long slashing each other with swords! It was a fearful day. Some say that 1 260,000 were killed, —enough to carry the carry the cry of grief around the world and send it down the centuries! Spartacus was defeated as he fore saw he would be. Before going into battle his horse was brought him. He slew it with one stroke of his sword and stepped into the harvest of death on foot. His path through the carnage was marked by the heaps of slain who fell by his hand. At last he fell—cut all to pieces. No grander death can any man die than when he lays down his life for the liberty of himself and his fel low man. Few of the Rebels escaped. Nearly all died in battle or in the retreat. Only 6,000 prisoners were taken. The Romans crucified them. A double row of crosses was put up along the public road from Rome to Capua— one row on each side of the road. On each of these crosses was nailed > while yet alive, one of these 6,000 prisoners. There they remained in helpless agony till kind, white-winged death bore their souls away. Just 70 years later these Romans crucified Christ in the same way ! For months afterwards the bodies hung on the crosses by the way side ; and it is related that their Roman Masters used to enjoy the sight as they rode down the horrible avenue of dead men, in their handsome turn outs. What crime had these poor slaves committed ? They had loved the Freedom which Geo. J. Fargo, Mure, Carpels, Rugs, Mattings, ZFDAZFIHZR,, Household Decorations AND BABY CARRIAGES. 60 3 BROAD ST.. AUGUSTA, GAI. You are invited to call and examine my large line of CARPETS and FURNITURE and HOUSEHOLD GOODS now being offered at ROCK bottom prices. Read the list and see if there is anything you need. 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