Spartacus

Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator-slave, who led a slave revolt against the Roman Republic from 73BC to 71BC. The rising was eventually crushed - 6,600 rebels being crucified along the Appian Way - but Spartacus' own fate (escape, death in battle, or anonymous execution) is unknown.

The story of Spartacus was made into a film, Spartacus (1960), written by Dalton Trumbo, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas as the eponymous hero.