Marcus Licinius Crassus
Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives (
Latin:
M·LICINIVS·P·F·P·N·CRASSVS[ In English: "Marcus Licinius Crassus, son of Publius, grandson of Publius"]) (c. 115 BC –
53 BC) was a
Roman general and
politician who suppressed the
slave revolt led by
Spartacus and entered into a secret pact, known as the
First Triumvirate, with Gnaeus
Pompeius Magnus and
Gaius Julius Caesar. One of the richest men of the era, he was killed after a
defeat at Carrhae.
Marcus Licinius Crassus was a powerful figure in
Roman politics on account of his great wealth; he was nicknamed
Dives, meaning "richest". He acquired this wealth through traffic in slaves, the working of silver mines, and judicious purchases of land and houses, especially those of
proscribed citizens. Most notorious was his acquisition of burning houses: when he received word that a house was on fire, he would arrive and purchase the (apparently lost) property for a modest sum, and then employ his army of 500
clients to put the fire out before much damage had been done.
The proscription of
Cinna forced Crassus to flee to
Spain. After Cinna's death he passed into
Africa, and then to
Italy, where he ingratiated himself with
Sulla.
Sent into battle against Spartacus, he gained a decisive victory, and was honored with an
ovation. The six thousand captured slaves who had rebelled under Spartacus were crucified along the Via Appia by his orders. Soon afterwards he was elected
consul with Pompey, and (
70 BC) displayed his wealth by entertaining the populace at 10,000 tables and distributing sufficient grain to last each family three months. In
65 he was
censor, and in
60 he joined Pompey and Caesar in the coalition known as the
First Triumvirate. In
55 he was again consul with Pompey, and a law was passed assigning the provinces of the two Spains and
Syria to Pompey and Crassus respectively for five years.
Crassus received Syria as his province, which promised to be an inexhaustible source of wealth. It would have been had he not also sought
military glory and crossed the
Euphrates in an attempt to conquer
Parthia. His legions were defeated at Carrhae (modern
Harran in
Turkey) in
53 BC by a numerically inferior Parthian force consisting mainly of armoured heavy cavalry and horse archers, against which Crassus was unable to manouvre. He was taken prisoner by the
Parthian general
Surena. Noting that Crassus was the richest man in Rome yet had attacked Parthia for no other reason than to loot it of its wealth, Surena executed him by forcing him to swallow molten gold.
His head was cut off and sent to
Orodes II, the Parthian
king. According to some sources, this trophy was revealed to the king in a particularly dramatic fashion during a performance of the
The Bacchae of
Euripides: it was used as a prop, standing in for
Pentheus' head in the final scene.
*c.
115 BC - Crassus Born
*
97 BC - Father is
Consul of
Rome*
87 BC - Crassus flees to
Spain from
Marian Forces
*
84 BC - Joins
Sulla against Marians
*
78 BC -
Sulla dies
*
74 BC - Revolt of
Spartacus*
73 BC - Crassus is
praetor*
71 BC - Crassus defeats
Spartacus*
70 BC - Consulship of Crassus and
Pompey*
65 BC - Crassus is Censor
*
63 BC -
Catiline Conspiracy*
59 BC -
First Triumvirate formed.
Caesar is Consul
*
56 BC - Conference at
Luca*
55 BC - Second consulship of Crassus and
Pompey. In November, Crassus leaves for Syria
*
54 BC - Campaign against the
Parthians*
53 BC - Crassus dies at the
Battle of Carrhae*
