Spartacus | Real Name Work

The name "Spartacus" (Greek: Σπάρτακος, Spártakos ; Latin: Spartacus ) is not a Latin or Greek name. Historians and linguists widely agree it is of .

Why the name change? After his capture, he was sold to a lanista (a trainer of gladiators) named Lentulus Batiatus at a school in Capua. The name "Spartacus" is derived from the city of , implying that the Romans saw him as having a Greek origin or Thracian roots (as the Thracians were allied with or influenced by Greeks). To the Romans, he was a "barbarian," and renaming him effectively stripped him of his past identity, branding him as property for the arena. spartacus real name