Review

Textbooks, Readers, and References

This collection of sources on slave rebellions in the Roman Empire, and the narrative which introduces them, is a highly readable and user-friendly volume, especially for teachers of ancient and world history. Thirty pages of introductory material are followed by eighty-two primary source documents, maps, and useful appendices. Shaw's preface and thirty-page introduction (as well as the short foreword provided by the general editors, who include Natalie Zemon Davis) deliver very concisely a great deal of essential information for history teachers. The author/editor provides guidance for readers (be they students or their teachers) who do not bring a strong background in the history of Roman slavery to their reading of the book, and who may need help in connecting these particular events to broader historical issues. Rather than focusing exclusively on Spartacus, Shaw argues that "Only by viewing Spartacus as part of the more general forces at work in Italy and Sicily during the second and first centuries B.C. can we understand his role in particular, and the critical role of slaves in general, in the history of the Roman Republic" (p. vi). Shaw takes the reader beyond popular notions of Spartacus and the gladiatorial world, as portrayed through novels and films, to a better understanding of the social and economic forces which led to a series of slave wars culminating in the dramatic events of 73-71 B.C. Following the introduction are six separate chapters that cover a broad range of crucial background issues: "Slave Life on the Large Farms," "Gladiators, Slaves and Resistance," "Fugitive Slaves and Maroon Communities," "Slave Revolts in Italy and Sicily before the Great Slave Wars," "The First (and Second) Sicilian Slave Wars," and, finally, "The Spartacus Slave War." The well-chosen sources go from general background to chronological coverage. Each chapter has a very brief introduction, as do some of the sources.	1
College students are the targeted audience for this book and for the entire Bedford Series in History and Culture of which it is a part. Teachers will find that they can adapt the sources and the information in this volume to their own classroom use, perhaps in conjunction with other readings or clips from films such as Spartacus and Gladiator. The "Questions to Consider" at the end of the book can be effectively used, although perhaps these questions should have been posed at the beginning rather than the end of the book. The fact that the book is concise and highly readable will appeal to teachers who are seeking to strengthen their historical content knowledge. It is also an excellent model of how to approach history as critical investigation rather than rote memorization. Although Shaw includes many literary and official text documents, there are also sources which may be of greater interest to students, such as posters for runaway slaves, reproductions of coins and frescos, and graffiti from Pompeii. Unfortunately, as the author acknowledges, there is precious little in the way of sources that bring us slave perspectives on these issues and events. It is also important for teachers to keep Shaw's introduction in mind as they read the documents. One of the points he emphasizes is that images of Spartacus and ideas concerning the rebellion which bears his name have changed over time. Sources from the Roman Empire were clearly influenced by political circumstances in how they depicted Spartacus. A list of Principle Authors and Literary Sources, included in the Appendix, will help students and teachers contextualize individual documents, underscoring the need to consider bias and perspective when using primary documents.	2
Besides fostering critical investigation, there is an opportunity here for teachers to establish the theme of slavery in the human past in a way that allows for connections to be drawn with later events in world and United States history. As Shaw says: "Taken as a whole, there exists a body of evidence from which modern historians can analyze the slave wars, not just in the history of the Roman Empire but also in the history of slavery throughout the world. But in our writing of history, whose slaves will they be? And whose version of Spartacus can we trust?" (p. 28, emphasis added). The most common place for this topic to appear in high school or middle school classrooms is indeed as a part of world history, and the selective use of these materials could provide a strong foundation for a thematic, comparative treatment of slavery. Teachers of United States history may also find this book useful if they wish to introduce some comparative issues in their own treatment of slavery. For example, sources such as "The Law Concerning Fugitive Slaves" (p. 53), "Posters for Runaway Slaves" (p. 57), and "Delegation of Authority to Arrest a Runaway Slave" (p. 59), might be combined with equivalent documents from the eighteenth and nineteenth century Americas. The use of comparative perspectives on slavery in United States history classrooms may be helpful to teachers who find slavery to be a difficult topic to work through with their students.	3
Overall, this is a first-rate book for college students in specialized classes, and especially for high school and middle school teachers. In fact, middle school teachers responsible for ancient history will find that the book gives them background on a subject with which they might not be very familiar, as well as materials they can use in creating and designing age-appropriate lessons for their students. Shaw's emphasis on careful attention to the origin of the sources, his use of guiding questions, and his attempt to place the Spartacus Slave Wars in a broader context serve as an excellent example of how all teachers should approach historical content in a way that moves toward critical understanding and enduring knowledge.	4
California State University Long Beach Francine Curtis

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