The vine ropes of Vesuvius
Three thousand Roman soldiers blocked the one path down Vesuvius and camped to let hunger finish the siege. The gladiators wove the wild vines on the summit into long ropes and lowered themselves down the back cliff the Romans thought no one could descend, then circled around behind the enemy camp for a surprise attack — and wiped it out. This battle raised a "gladiator riot" to a "war": the opponent was no runaway slave but a commander who understood the Roman army. For the next two years Rome had to treat him as it had treated Hannibal.
The crosses of the Appian Way
In the last battle Spartacus killed his own horse: "If I win I will have my pick of the enemy’s horses; if I lose I will need none." He charged on foot straight for Crassus himself, killed two centurions, and died fighting. Crassus crucified all six thousand prisoners along the two hundred kilometers of road from Rome to Capua, and forbade taking down the bodies — one every few dozen meters, so every slave on the road could see clearly. The terror achieved its aim: there was never another large slave revolt in Rome. But two thousand years later the name "Spartacus" became the universal codename for every rebel.