Startacus and Spartacus

by Startacus Admin

Startacus and Spartacus!

Now many of you may know that the name of this website, Startacus, is derived from a famous character in Ancient Roman history – Spartacus.  

Over the last couple of years I became a little bit obsessed with Ancient Rome and studied the Empire and all the people who rebelled against it.  Spartacus is by far the most famous and it's a name that is known the world over.  Like many things in history though, we can relate it to the present.  So I would like to show you how Spartacus and Startacus are intertwined and how we can all take inspiration from his story.

Spartacus was a slave from Thrace (modern day Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey). He was actually part of the Roman Army (Rome used many foreign soldiers) but he was double crossed and enslaved.  Due to his fighting prowess he was made a gladiator.  Though he was a successful gladiator, Spartacus yearned for more.  He wanted freedom.  He united with his fellow gladiators to launch an audacious escape plan.  Using any items they could find – from kitchen tools to jugs – legend has it they broke out there chains and murdered there master and his family.

Gladiators?  Murder?  What does this have to do with a unique website for aspiring entrepreneurs?  Well I interpret the modern day Spartacus' as people like Alastair (our gracious Co-founder).  Now I'm not equating working a 9-5 as slavery (only for the purposes of this article!) but he and many others were working jobs that they did not want to do.  Personally I used to hear it all the time from people around me.  The large majority of people don't like there jobs. It's a well established fact.  

The industrialised economy that we live in, for this purpose we'll call it the Roman Empire, thrives of people doing monotonous tasks to create value for organisations, rather than actually valuing people.  This is what Rome did with there slaves.  Whether a gladiator or a house girl, you were all working for Rome and freedom of thought and expression were crushed.  Is it so wrong to say that the jobs that many people do give them the same feeling?

However the modern day Spartacus' are now breaking out of this mould.  Whether enforced due to being laid off in the 2008 Economic Crisis (which seems like it will never end!) or because they had enough, entrepreneurs are emerging from the woodwork to fight for the freedom to express themselves, create and just to overall be happy and enjoy life.  They live to work, they don't work to live.  They fight because they want to, not because they have to.  This is like Spartacus and his band of brothers.  They didn't have to rebel.  Slavery as a system is designed to crush resistance.  But the human spirit can't be crushed when it is awakened.

People like Alastair have allowed people to see the possibilities and the opportunities out there.  No longer do we have to work jobs we don't like.  We don't have to pay lip service to bosses we hate.  They have fought against the norms of the system and opened doors and eyes.  This site is the perfect example.  A website where you could incubate an idea and connect with other like minded people was pretty much unheard of in the UK not as long as 2-3 years ago.  And now here we are.

It is often said of Spartacus and his army that they did not only fight for themselves – they fought for the freedom of their children and future generations.  And that is what we all must do.  We must make a concerted effort through our actions to show the next generation what is possible.    

Spartacus' army was eventually defeated by Rome.  However the Roman Empire eventually fell.  The doom and gloom in the country would suggest that the future is not bright.  With heart, courage and intelligence we can all show people through our actions that the previous ways of working don't work.  Their is a new awakening emerging and I want to be a soldier in the army that eventually changes this system and revolutionise how we think about work and happiness.  

So strap up soldiers, we're going to war!!

N.B – Spartacus is also an amazing TV show, and if you like the story of Spartacus go watch it!

By Dubem Menakaya

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Published on: 10th August 2013