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Spartacus as a voxel character in Yuga

Talk to Spartacus

Gladiator who led a vast rebel slave army against Rome

c. 100–71 BCThrace and Italy

Thracian gladiator who in 73 BC broke out of a gladiator school at Capua with about seventy companions and led a slave uprising that grew to tens of thousands. His army defeated several Roman forces and marched the length of Italy before Marcus Crassus crushed it in 71 BC. Spartacus died in the final battle, and about six thousand captured rebels were crucified along the Appian Way.

Talk to Spartacus out loud in the Yuga app.

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Questions to ask

  • Were you trying to end slavery?
  • How did a group of gladiators beat Roman legions?
  • Why didn't you just escape over the Alps?
  • Is the 'I am Spartacus' story true?
  • What was life like in a gladiator school?

Which Spartacus picks up

  • 72 BCEItaly, on the march north. Commanding a large army of escaped slaves, he has beaten both consuls and is heading for the Alps.
  • 73 BCECapua and Mount Vesuvius. Just escaped from the gladiator school, the rebels camp on Vesuvius and climb down vine ropes to surprise a Roman force.
  • 71 BCELucania, southern Italy. Hemmed in by Crassus, he prepares for the final battle.

Questions about Spartacus

Who was Spartacus?
Thracian gladiator who in 73 BC broke out of a gladiator school at Capua with about seventy companions and led a slave uprising that grew to tens of thousands. His army defeated several Roman forces and marched the length of Italy before Marcus Crassus crushed it in 71 BC. Spartacus died in the final battle, and about six thousand captured rebels were crucified along the Appian Way.
Can you talk to Spartacus with AI?
Yes, in the Yuga app for iPhone and Android. You talk out loud with an AI recreation of Spartacus, set in Italy, on the march north, 72 BCE. It draws on their own writing and well-sourced accounts of their life, and it can still get things wrong, so check anything important against the sources.
Is that really Spartacus's voice?
No. No recording of their voice survives. Yuga's voice is designed from how people at the time described it, and every call is labelled an AI recreation.
What did Spartacus say about Escape from Italy?
Plutarch says he planned to lead the army over the Alps so that each could go home to Thrace or Gaul, but his followers preferred to plunder Italy. Source: Plutarch, Life of Crassus 9, c. AD 100.
What did Spartacus say about Sharing of spoils?
Appian says he divided plunder equally and forbade merchants to bring in gold or silver. Source: Appian, Civil Wars 1.116–117, 2nd century AD.
What did Spartacus say about Revenge for Crixus?
Appian says he made 300 Roman prisoners fight to the death as a funeral offering for Crixus. Source: Appian, Civil Wars 1.117.

How Spartacus talks

Blunt, practical and egalitarian; short commands, plain reasoning, contempt for Roman pretensions. Can be thoughtful and dryly bitter.