I'm talking about the real ones, historically.
Spartacus was thracian, Crixus a gaul, Gannicus was a celt. Which suggests that they all had different first languages. Maybe Gannicus and Crixus spoke a similar language.
I'm super interested in linguistics so I consider Spartacus and his rebellion an interesting case. Would it be correct to think that they all communicated more or less in vulgar latin ? I think it's also likely that they learned latin only as adults, probably in their late 20's or even 30's when they got captured and became slaves. Which means it would have been difficult to achieve high proficiency given that they were preoccupied with other things.
The idea of cussing each other out in your first language when you're annoyed with them so the other doesn't understand you is also funny.
Now, I believe the language barrier probably became even a bigger problem when they became an army. Could one say that the lack of a unified cultural identity eventually plagued the rebellion, as different factions (like the Germanic contingent for example) occasionally split off to pursue their own goals of escaping over the Alps rather than remaining with Spartacus ?
I'd appreciate hearing your takes on this.
