Did Spartacus receive any moral support from Rome's intellectual class?

by hummusforthought
Catullan

If he did, there are no extant records of it. Here is a pretty good summary of the ancient texts that deal with Spartacus's rebellion. It's in English, too, which is nice. I can't recall any others that handle the topic in any detail, though my memory often fails me and someone else might recall others. So short answer, if he did, we don't really know about it.

Somewhat longer answer - I doubt it. We tend to separate the academic and political spheres in modern Western society. The line in Rome was... a lot more blurred. Sure, you have guys like Catullus, Vergil, and Horace, who were equites for the most part and not really involved in government, but you also have guys like Gaius Asinius Pollio (cos. 40 BCE), who by all accounts we have was considered one of the great historians of the first century BCE. My main point here is that the "intellectual class" was probably as invested in the institution of slavery as other members of the oligarchy. If there had been a general slave uprising in Italy, a lot of the writers, historians, and philosophers at the time would have been the first to be nailed to the proverbial (and perhaps actual) cross.

The second reason I doubt he received any support from this source was the fact that there didn't really seem to be any voice advocating against slavery at the time. Seneca appears to come the closest to this position in his 47th Letter to Lucilius, but note that nowhere in the letter does he condemn slavery as an insitution; he merely criticizes some of the common practices of slaveowners (and this is almost 150 years after the Spartacan uprising). If anyone else can recall a text which advocates for the abolition of slavery, I would be very interested in reading it.

Edit: Fixed a date.