Gannicus

Gannicus or Cannicus was a Gallic^[1][2] gladiator,^[3][4] from the gladiatorial school of Lentulus Batiatus in Capua. Together with the Thracian Spartacus, and the fellow Gauls Crixus, Oenomaus and Castus, he became one of the leaders of rebellious slaves during the Third Servile War (73-71 BC). In the winter of 71 BC Gannicus along with Castus broke off from Spartacus taking a large number of Celts and Germans with them marking the second detachment of the rebellion. Gannicus and Castus met their end in Lucania near Mount Soprano (Mount Camalatrum) where Marcus Licinius Crassus, Lucius Pomptinus and Quintus Marcius Rufus entrenched their forces in battle and defeated them.

In popular culture

• Gannicus is portrayed by Dustin Clare in the Starz television series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and sequels Spartacus: Vengeance and Spartacus: War of the Damned.^[5] He is depicted as a freed former gladiator, from the House of Batiatus, who agrees to join Spartacus' cause to honor friend Oenomaus after he falls in the rebellion. In the series Gannicus is portrayed as a Celt.
• Gannicus was portrayed by Paul Telfer in the 2004 miniseries Spartacus – He commands the rebel cavalry. In the miniseries, he is portrayed as a Thracian.

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Winkler 2008, p. 222
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bury 1994, p. 331
3. ↑ Strauss 2009, p. 213
4. ↑ Orosius, Histories 5.24.1
5. ↑ Starz. "Gannicus". Retrieved April 16, 2010. 

Ancient sources

• Orosius, Histories 5.24.1-2
• Appian, Civil Wars 1.116
• Florus, Epitome 2.8.20

Secondary literature

• Bury, John Bagnell (1994). The Cambridge Ancient History , Volum 9. Cambridge University Press. 
• Strauss, Barry (2009). The Spartacus War. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 1-4165-3205-6. 
• Winkler, Martin M. (2008). Spartacus: Film and History. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-4707-7726-5.