ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the goods typology in economics, including historical examples of the private provision of public goods and a primer on the history of the Third Servile War. It explores various aspects of the private provision of “national defense” through scenes from both Vengeance and War of the Damned. Many introductory microeconomics textbooks include a section categorizing the types of goods based on two qualities: rivalry in consumption and excludability. Economists have, dating back decades, often considered the private provision of public goods. These considerations have at times focused on some of the more often-used examples of public goods, such as lighthouses and national defense. The benefits to members of the general public of police protection also fit into economists’ description of a public good. The Third Servile War, also known as the Gladiator War or the Spartacus Revolt, was a slave rebellion led by the gladiator Spartacus against Roman armies from 73 BC to 71 BC.
