Battle of the Silarius River

Overview

The Battle of the Silarius River was the final, decisive action of the Third Servile War, the last of the Roman Servile Wars. It occurred near the mouth of modern Sele River, southern Campania, southern Italy.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of the Silarius River was the final, decisive action of the Third Servile War, the last of the Roman Servile Wars. The engagement pitted Marcus Licinius Crassus commanding approximately 40,000 Roman Republican troops against Spartacus leading a slave army of around 50,000. Roman casualties stood at roughly 1,000 against an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 on the slave side, a disparity indicating the completeness of the Roman tactical success. By ending the Third Servile War, the battle also closed the era of the Roman Servile Wars altogether. The engagement took place near the mouth of the modern Sele River in southern Campania, placing the final suppression of the rebellion in the same southern Italian region where much of the war had been contested. The outcome confirmed Roman military dominance and extinguished the largest slave uprising in Roman Republican history.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)