Gladiator Spartacus

As we aggressively protect our freedom, we admire the rebels who have fought for it. Writers of history flatter these individuals in stories. Their admirable traits make them very susceptible to immortalisation through myth and legend. Two individuals who have been thus immortalised are Roman gladiator Spartacus and Scottish rebel William Wallace. They continue to inspire people to strive for freedom. As long as rebels survive in the public interest, such as through story, myth or symbolism, history had helped them create legacies of freedom that people still internalise and endorse today.
Firstly, rebels who fight for human desires are seen as compelling figures. Freedom is a natural human desire and protecting it has become more important to us. Escaped slave leader Spartacus has had history build his legacy upon his …show more content…
The idea of Spartacus as a symbol of freedom was preserved then further ingrained into society through the French tragedy by Bernard-Joseph Saurin called Spartacus (1760), which was inspired by Plutarch’s account of the gladiator. The play insinuates a parallel between Ancient Roman slavery and the oppressive regime by France’s eighteenth century monarchy prior to their revolution. Overtime, Spartacus’s legacy also became a comparison to many modern liberators such as nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi in Raffaello Giovagnoli’s historical 1874 novel. William Wallace’s legacy has been more recently ingrained in popular culture through the film Braveheart (1995). When a world suffers from a need to protect their freedom, they resurrect legends and stories that cultivate a fight for it as a way to inspire the oppressed. Beyond their deaths, these rebels are still achieving freedom by inspiring people through their