Editing 73 BC

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2012}}
{{Year nav|-73}}
{{BC year in topic|73}}
[[File:Defaitearmeespretoriennes.png|upright=1.35|thumb|Movements of Roman and Slave forces from the [[Capua]]n revolt up to the end of winter 73–72 BC in [[Southern Italy]].]]
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Year '''73 BC''' was a year of the [[Roman calendar|pre-Julian Roman calendar]]. At the time it was known as the '''Year of the Consulship of Lucullus and Longinus''' (or, less frequently, '''year 681 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 73 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the [[Anno Domini]] [[calendar era]] became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

== Events==
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=== By place ===

==== Roman Republic ====
* [[Third Servile War]]: [[Spartacus]], a Thracian gladiator, escapes with around 70 [[Gladiator|slave-gladiator]]s from a gladiator school at [[Capua]]. They defeat a small Roman force and equip themselves with captured military equipment as well with gladiatorial weapons. Spartacus and his band of gladiators [[Looting|plunder]] the region surrounding Capua and retire to a defensible position on [[Mount Vesuvius]].<ref>Appian, ''Civil Wars'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1*.html#116 1:116]; Florus, ''Epitome'', [[Wikisource:Epitome of Roman History/Book 2#8|2.8]]; - Florus and Appian make the claim that the slaves withdrew to Mount Vesuvius, while Plutarch only mentions "a hill" in the account of Glaber's siege of the slave's encampment.</ref>
* [[Battle of Mount Vesuvius]]: Spartacus defeats a Roman [[militia]] force (3,000 men) under [[Gaius Claudius Glaber]]. The rebel slaves spend the winter of 73–72 BC training, arming and equipping their new recruits, as well as expanding their raiding territory, which includes the towns of [[Nola]], [[Nocera Inferiore|Nuceria]], [[Thurii]] and [[Metapontum]].
* On the [[Iberian Peninsula]] (part of the [[Roman Republic]]) rebel leader [[Quintus Sertorius]] is [[Assassination|assassinated]] by some of his own lieutenants (lead by [[Marcus Perperna Veiento|Marcus Perperna]]).{{efn|the year of his assassination is disputed – the debate is whether he was assassinated in 73 or 72 BCE}} Perperna takes command of the rebel army.

== Births ==
* [[Herod the Great]], client king of [[Judea]] (d. [[4 BC]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Herod {{!}} Biography & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=7 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Marcus Porcius Cato (son of Cato the Younger)|Marcus Porcius Cato]], assassin of [[Julius Caesar]] (d. [[42 BC]])

== Deaths ==
* [[Devabhuti]], king of the [[Shunga Empire]]
* [[Gaius Aurelius Cotta]], Roman statesman and [[orator]]
* [[Quintus Sertorius]], leader of the [[Sertorian War|Sertorian rebels]] during the [[Sertorian War]]
* [[Beli Mawr#Geoffrey of Monmouth's Heli|Heli]], king of [[Great Britain|Britain]] (approximate date)

== References ==
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==Notes==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:73 Bc}}
[[Category:73 BC| ]]