Las insurrecciones serviles en Sicilia. El relato de Diodoro Sí­culo y la participación de los campesinos libres

Abstract

During the 20th century the study of the three great slave uprisings of the late Roman Republic has revolved around the debate related to the definition of their, “revolutionary” or “reformist” character, thus moving the contemporary imaginary of revolution to the ancient world. The western historiography has shown a striking consensus: the slaves didn’t have the aim of abolishing slavery; their uprisings lacked of a revolutionary end, and therefore they were just “rebellions”. This work intends to reconsider the Sicilian servile insurrections narrated by Diodorus by taking distance from the traditional dichotomous emphasis (revolution - rebellion) and by focusing on a problematic that has been generally omitted or slightly considered by historiography, the participation and support of impoverished freemen in the servile revolts. We will prove this participation; we will define who these “poor free” were; we will support the historiographical line that postulates the existence of collaboration between rebel slaves and poor free men in the revolts, making emphasis in the assembly that congregates around the Enna theater in the beginning of the first insurrection; and we will suggest to think the action of the rebel slaves in the revolts by taking into account Hobsbawm’s concept of social bandits