The name of the Thracian Spartacus, the Roman gladiator and leader of the most famous slave uprising in ancient Rome, has undoubted attractive power. The immortal novel by Raffaelo Giovagnoli and the ballet by Aram Khachaturian, the 1960 Hollywood action movie with the brilliant acting work of Kirk Douglas and even the gladiator on the flag of the fans of the "folk" football club are all visible incarnations of the image of Spartak - a hero whose name has long been living his own life and according to his own laws. But what was the real Spartak? What was the life of gladiators in ancient Rome? Why for a long time the rebels managed to prevail over the best army of the then world, and Spartacus himself earned the respect of even his enemies - the Romans? This is described in the book of the historian and writer Valentin Leskov, a new, supplemented and revised edition of which is offered to the attention of readers.