Ben Kane

And now the Romans...

Instead of doing the normal triplex aces formation, which is three ranks having four cohorts in the front rank, three cohorts in the second, and three in the third, slightly staggered, so the gaps in the front line are covered from behind by the cohorts in the second line, and likewise the gaps in the second line covered by the gaps by the cohorts in the third line.

They deployed in a duplex aces, so a more concentrated fashion.

But regardless of being outnumbered, they absolutely butchered the unfortunate slave army, and Crixus died fighting.

They were very brave.

There was a battle where the Romans defeated the Gauls some 30 or 40 years before, where not a single Gaul was recorded to have run away.

And in a later battle, which I'll mention, which happened to another breakaway section of Spartacus' army, only two of the 12,300 dead were found to have wounds in their backs.

So they died, you know, they were brave, but that was the end to them.

And that would have really...

weakened spartacus's forces would have shook them that they realized and would have shook them as well yeah so by this point the other consul who if my memory serves me had one of those dreadfully long four names roman name but i think lentulus was was the last one he's known as lentulus and he went in pursuit of spartacus and spartacus was probably aware just from the bush telegraph that what had happened to crixus and that he would soon have two consular armies after him so he knew he'd have to

fight, it'd be better to fight one and then have the other.

So he ambushed Lentulus' army.

Okay, he ambushed him, but they still absolutely thrashed the Romans.

He was then pursued by Gellius.

Soon after that, nothing survived the battle except that he beat Gellius.

So maybe it was ambush, but this is two consular armies.

He's just beaten one after another.

He then continued north and came down out of the Apennines Mountains to near the modern-day town of Medina, which was known as Mutina to the Romans, and was there faced by a consular-sized army under a proconsul whose name was Longinus, Cassius Longinus, father of one of Julius Caesar's murderers or assassins, and he beat him as well in open battle.

Nice.

And, all right, he had a bigger army, but he's still a proper Roman army.