Who knew this was precisely Spartacus’s stratagem? The rebel army’s ambush troops quickly emerged from both sides of the mountains, causing two Roman legions to collapse instantly. They were chased relentlessly by the rebel army and fled back to Rimini in disarray.
The initial defeat made Crassus extremely angry, yet he still kindly consoled Deputy General Mummius, who had disobeyed his command. But after turning away, he cruelly ordered the execution of the "Eleventh Decimation Law" on the five hundred soldiers who first retreated and gathered the entire army to witness the execution process.
When the Roman soldiers saw their comrades beaten to death with sticks by fellow soldiers in a brutal manner, they shivered in fear, feeling that dying in battle under the rebel army’s swords was far more honorable than dying at Crassus’s hands.
Thus, Crassus achieved his goal of making the soldiers fear him more than the enemy.
Additionally, through days of observation, he realized the rebel army indeed seemed to have no intention of advancing north. So he decided not to wait any longer and led the entire army south, following the rebel army.
However, he never engaged the rebel army in battle. Instead, he organized his troops while sending out cavalry (Rome’s cavalry far outnumbered that of the rebel army) to attack small groups of rebel soldiers who were isolated or gathering supplies.
Crassus adopted Fabian’s strategy against Hannibal, based on his circumstances, employing tactics to delay and wear down the enemy.
Spartacus several times deliberately left openings to lure the Roman Army into attacking, but Crassus did not fall for it.
Spartacus led his entire army intending to have a decisive battle with the Roman Army, yet Crassus always fortified his camp early, refusing to come out.
Spartacus was at a loss with this Roman Army, and now he faced a big problem—lack of food.
When moving north, the rebel army plundered along the east coast of Italy. As they turned south, although Maximus left with his army, the total number of the rebel troops hadn’t significantly changed, yet the previous route couldn’t provide much more resources. Spartacus was forced to alter the route, entering the regions of Lucania Mountain, which hadn’t been plundered yet by the rebel army.
Of course, marching here, Spartacus had another goal: to use the treacherous mountain paths and hidden mountains, making it difficult for Rome’s heavy infantry to move and deter the Roman Army from following. If the Roman Army continued to pursue, the rebel army could more easily create opportunities for victory.
But he underestimated Crassus.
Crassus, without hesitation, led his army in pursuit into Lucania Mountain, yet he marched and fortified very steadily, giving Spartacus no chance to exploit any flaws, while ironically, the rebel army encountered trouble.
Some units that joined the rebel army in the region of Pisenum grew dissatisfied with Spartacus’s constant marching without attacking the Roman Army, so they launched an unauthorized attack on the Roman Camp, resulting in failure.
But the Roman Army did not pursue after their victory, which led to a strategically placed ambush by Spartacus outside the Roman Camp returning empty-handed when he later learned of it.
The rebel army’s streak of continuous victories faced a setback.
Spartacus felt the difficulty posed by this commander of the Roman Army. Crassus—this was the name of the Roman commander he learned from captured Roman soldiers, and he was also the person Maximus warned him to be cautious of when he left.
After much consideration, Spartacus decided to lead the army further south, leaving Lucania and heading to Regium. On one hand, the regions they would pass through were from the former Great Greece, relatively wealthy, which could solve the food shortage for the rebel army; on the other hand, he decided to send a few thousand men across the Messina Strait to Sicily.
He had long heard of the numerous oppressed slaves there, who had previously engaged in large-scale resistance against the Roman Army. Now, they were like dry kindling on a stove, just waiting for him to ignite it, enough to set all of Sicily ablaze. In this way, the two rebel armies could support each other across the strait, weakening the Roman Army’s strength.
To be honest, the 8 legions led by Crassus, along with the town troops recruited along the way, had reached more than 70,000 men, putting some pressure on Spartacus.
Hamilcar reminded him not to forget Maximus’s warning and suggested sending a detachment to Regium, with no need to lead the entire army.
But Spartacus considered: the Roman Army was following closely, and once troops were split, the Roman Army could easily discover it. They could take ships to bypass him and attack the detached troops first, and then the tragedy of Cross would be repeated.
Spartacus rejected Hamilcar’s suggestion and decided to personally lead the army to Regium.
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Andres was escorted by cavalry, fleeing east along the south bank of the Kupa River without even entering the camp they had stationed the night before. Even when there were no pursuers in sight behind them, they did not rein in their warhorses and continued past Cabdes’s camp, finally reaching Anrotas’s tribe, where the cavalry stopped their horses, surrounding Andres into the camp.
The tribal leader Anrotas, seeing Andres’s despondent appearance, knew right away that the army had suffered a defeat. Seeing so few return, he couldn’t help but feel alarmed, yet knowing Andres’s temperament, he dared not inquire and instead assigned a few servants to attend to Andres carefully while he sought out the cavalry to learn more in private.