First Servile War

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First Servile War
Part of the Servile Wars
Maximum territory controlled by the slaves
Date 135–132 BC Location Sicily, Achaea Result Roman victory
Belligerents
Roman Republic	Slaves of Sicily
Commanders and leaders
L. Cornelius Lentulus (135) L. Plautius Hypsaeus (135) T. Manlius Torquatus (134) C. Fulvius Flaccus (134) T. Manlius Torquatus (134) L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi (133) M. Perperna (133–132) P. Rupilius (132)	Eunus (POW) Cleon † Comanus †

The First Servile War of 135–132 BC was a slave rebellion against the Roman Republic, which took place in Sicily. The revolt started in 135 when Eunus, a slave from Syria who claimed to be a prophet, captured the city of Enna in the middle of the island with 400 fellow slaves. Soon after, Cleon, a Cilician slave, stormed the city of Agrigentum on the southern coast, slaughtered the population, and then joined Eunus' army and became his military commander. Eunus even proclaimed himself king, under the name of Antiochus, after the Seleucid emperors of his native Syria.

The former slaves then moved to the eastern coast and took control of Catana and Tauromenium. Their exploit triggered several minor revolts in Italy and as far as Delos in the Aegean Sea. Eunus and Cleon were able to repel several Roman attempts to quell the rebellion until an army commanded by consul Publius Rupilius arrived in Sicily in 134 and besieged the cities controlled by the slaves. The revolt ended in 132 with the fall of Enna and Tauromenium.