The First Servile War was an unsuccessful slave uprising against the Romans on the island of Sicily. See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century) The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romanorum) was the republican government of the city of Rome and its territories from 510 BC until the establishment of the Roman Empire, which sometimes placed at 44BC the year of Caesars... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ...

The uprising was mostly caused by great changes of property ensuing upon the final expulsion of the Carthaginians, about the middle of the Second Punic War. Speculators from Italy rushed into the island, who, in the general distress of the Sicilians, bought up large tracts of land at a low price, or became the occupiers of estates which had belonged to Sicilians of the Carthaginian party, and had been forfeited to Rome after the execution or flight of their owners. A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ... The Second Punic War was fought between Carthage and Rome from 218 to 202 BC. It was the second of three major wars fought between the Phoenician colony of Carthage, and the Roman Republic, then still confined to the Italian Peninsula. ...

The Sicilians of the Roman party followed the example, and became rich out of the distress of their countrymen. Slaves were to be had cheap; and corn was likely to find a sure market whilst Italy was suffering from the ravages of war. Accordingly, Sicily was crowded with slaves, employed to grow corn for the great landed proprietors, whether Sicilian or Italian, and so ill-fed by their masters that they soon began to provide for themselves by robbery. The poorer Sicilians were the sufferers from this evil; and as the masters were well content that their slaves should be maintained at the expense of others, they were at no pains to restrain their outrages. Thus, nominally at peace, full of wealthy proprietors, and exporting corn largely every year, Sicily was nonetheless teeming with evils, which, seventy or eighty years after, broke out in the horrible atrocities of the Servile War. Cereal crops are mostly grasses cultivated for their edible seeds (actually a fruit called a caryopsis). ...

The chief of the slaves had at one time two hundred thousand followers, inclusive, probably, of women and children. He was a Syrian of Apamea, named Eunus, and had been a prophet and conjurer among the slaves. To his prophecies and tricks he owed his elevation when the rebellion broke out. According to some accounts, he was rather a cunning than an able man; but it should be recollected that his enemies only have drawn his portrait. The victories he so often won over the Roman forces are placed to the credit of his lieutenant, a Cilician of the name of Cleon; but he must have been a man of considerable ability to have maintained his position so long, and to have commanded the services of those said to have been his superiors. Cleon's superiority was probably only that of the soldier. He fell in battle, and Eunus was made prisoner, but died before he could be brought to punishment. In numerous religions, including Abrahamic religions, Jah religions, Sikhism, and many forms of Paganism, a prophet is an intermediary with a deity, particularly someone who claims to speak for the deity or interprets the deitys will or mind. ... The word conjuration (from Latin conjuratio, conjurare, to swear together) can be interpreted in several different ways: as an invocation or evocation (the latter in the sense of obligating by vow); as an exorcism; or as an act of illusionism. ... In ancient geography, Cilicia (Ki-LIK-ya) formed a district on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), north of Cyprus. ...

The war lasted from 135 BC until 132 BC. It was the first of a series of three slave revolts in the Roman Republic; the last and the most famous was led by Spartacus. Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC - 130s BC - 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC Years: 140 BC 139 BC 138 BC 137 BC 136 BC - 135 BC - 134 BC 133 BC... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC - 130s BC - 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC Years: 137 BC 136 BC 135 BC 134 BC 133 BC - 132 BC - 131 BC 130 BC... The Servile Wars were a series of slave revolts that plagued the late Roman Republic. ... This article refers to the Roman slave. ...

References

• Arnold, History of Rome, Vol. III. pp. 317-318, London edition.