It was during this period that Crassus’ true nature began to show. Crassus and Pompey again served as consuls in 55. Roman coins envelop a bust of Crassus, who used his savvy to build an incredible fortune in Rome in the first century B.C. The slaves were duly vanquished, and the remaining survivors also crucified. Exactly how rich was Marcus Licinius Crassus? Envied and despised by the highborn among the Senate, he craves the power and respect that defeating Spartacus and his Rebel army would bring him.. Having initially been a mentioned-only character in the first two seasons, he is the main antagonist of the final season of Spartacus. --> Despite this, Crassus and Pompey were named consuls in 70 B.C. His father committed suicide and his brother was killed during the uprising of Cornelius Cinna in 87 BC. With Crassus’ money and connections, many men would have been content, but Crassus was not one of them. Crassus joined forces with two other men in 60 B.C. Combine that through slave trafficking and silver mines, gave Crassus a fortune estimated by Pliny at 200 million sestertii, or about 8.5 billion in today’s dollars. Crassus was aware that he had been chosen because Pompey and his forces were unavailable (they were in Hispania), but he was willing to make the most of this opportunity. By 62 BCE, Crassus had become something of a patron of the younger Caesar, whose considerable political debts Crassus paid off. background: '#707a8f', Crassus had become so amazingly rich that a majority of Rome’s real estate was in his hands! Crassus began his invasion in 53 B.C., but the Parthians were not easily subdued. and join one of thousands of communities. In April, 71 B.C., he isolated Spartacus and forced him to fight near the Sele River. Accounts of the details surrounding his death differ. In 87 BC, the forces of Gaius Marius seized control of Rome during what became known as The Social War. If the person refused his house burnt down and he got nothing, if … Money was not enough for Crassus, the richest man in Rome, Photograph by H. Lewandowski/RMN-Grand Palais; Schöfmann/AGE Fotostock. This agreement was not strictly illegal, but it did imply a certain disdain for republican institutions, and was eagerly denounced by their enemies, such as Cato and Cicero, when the agreement became public. In the following years Pompey continued to accumulate military victories: He rid the Mediterranean Sea of pirates, a constant nuisance for Roman trade. In Spain Crassus started to build his fabulous wealth. } Surena, the architect of Rome’s defeat, did not last long following his victory. This animated historical documentary video discusses how one of the wealthiest men in history - Marcus Licinius Crassus became so rich during the era of the Late Roman Republic and features other great Roman generals and statesmen like Caesar, Sulla, Pompey, Lucullus, Marius, and others. In the mid-first century BCE, Crassus was the proconsul of Syria, and as a result, he had become enormously wealthy. He formed a fire brigade and turned up wherever there was a fire in Rome offering to put the fire out if the house owner first sold him his house at a low price. 25 denarii is one aureus. scrollbar: true, While Crassus had crippled the revolt, it was Pompey who ended it. led to a huge increase in the public funds available in the republic. This alliance proved fruitful for Crassus's ambitions of wealth. Crassus relied on a large slave labor force to renovate the damaged houses he bought and sold. He accumulated over 7,100 talents, or 200 million Sestertii. The third member was the proud and powerful Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Pompey the Great, a former rival and now an uneasy ally. Taken alive, Crassus met his own end at Surenas’s hands. Lending money to a promising protégé could prove to be a wise investment. Extremely adept at making money, he parlayed that success into leading positions in government and the military but was ultimately undone by a series of unwise decisions. The first-century A.D. historian Plutarch wrote in his work The Parallel Lives that Crassus “lived in a little house,” where “they kept but one table amongst them.” The family might have lived frugally, but they enjoyed an enviable social position. He dealt a stunning defeat to the slaves, crucifying 6,000 captives along the Appian Way. How did the Roman aqueducts not have dirty, bug infested water in them? Intercepting them on the way from Hispania were Pompey and his troops. Crassus it was who finally defeated Spartacus, ensuring that he was dead and then crucifying 6,000 surviving slaves on the road from Rome to Capua, as a deterrent to future revolt leaders. Pompey took credit for the victory and received another triumph, much to the chagrin of Crassus, who was given an ovatio (ovation), a lesser celebration with fewer honors. He'd finance any senator who asked for it. When a block burned down, owners of adjacent buildings would then sell their own for fear of collapse, and Crassus would swoop on the easy pickings. After the renovations, Crassus then would sell the buildings at much higher prices. This style of armored cavalry, known as Cataphract, delivered the knockout blow to Crassus at Carrhae in 53 B.C. In 87 BCE, on the losing side against the forces of Gaius Marius and Cornelius Cinna, he committed suicide and the young Crassus fled to Spain. Marcus Licinius Crassus had two sons, Marcus Licinius Crassus (Jr in effect), ... Caesar was often subject to rumours of homosexuality but it has a different connotation now than it did in Roman times. Indeed, he was accused of adding the name of a particularly rich man just so he could pick up his property at bargain basement prices. Publius Crassus ---On his father's orders, Publius Crassus attacked the Parthians with a detachment of 1300 cavalry (1000 of whom were the Gauls he had brought with him from Caesar), 500 archers, and eight cohorts of infantry. Rather than bringing wealth and territory to Rome, Crassus delivered Rome one of its worst defeats and political instability. "The Death of Marcus Licinius Crassus" shows Crassus before gold is poured down his throat. Marcus Licinius Crassus is said to be the richest man in Rome and is also a senator of the Republic. A military commander who crushed a slave rebellion, Crassus had become a respected orator, patron, and politician, serving as consul twice among other positions. }, Pompey’s three legions were essential to the efforts to recapture Rome, feats that drew great praise from Sulla, who allowed him to marry his stepdaughter. Crassus’ decision to unite with these two men could seem baffling. As Pompey was gathering accolades in the east, the bond that Crassus had established with Julius Caesar bore fruit. Crassus made quite a name for himself by taking advantage of owners whose buildings were burning. type: 'profile', At least 5,000 slaves had escaped and were moving toward Gaul. It is worth mentioning that in the half of the 1st century BCE in Rome, there were no fire fighting services. Publius had allied with Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who was vying for power against Gaius Marius. Crassus would then spruce up the building, using his slave labor, and sell the building at a profit. Alongside Crassus stood Gaius Julius Caesar, an ambitious military commander beginning a life in politics. Crassus had no problems in dealing with men of different political beliefs, particularly if there was a personal benefit to be made (Julius Caesar had belonged to a different political party). After the brilliant slave leader led his men through a series of victories against better-equipped Roman legions, Crassus offered up his own wealth to finance an army to fight Spartacus. Writing more than 200 years after Crassus’ death, Roman historian Cassius Dio related an episode where Crassus boasted to a Parthian ambassador that he would take the western Parthian capital Seleucia; the ambassador laughed, pointed at his palm, and said: “Sooner will hair grow here than you shall reach Seleucia.”. Pompey was in Spain, Crassus in Syria, and Caesar was in Gaul, which is now France. In the civil war that ensued against Marius, Crassus played a decisive part. tweets: { The aforementioned Caesar was proving his worth in matters military and legal. Sulla had begrudgingly granted one to Pompey for a victory in the war against Marius despite the fact that Pompey was too young even to be a senator. Not really that rich. Ever since the time of Crassus, the field of real estate development is seen as a playing field that is dominated and played only by the super rich. Crassus was known in Rome as Dives, meaning "The Rich". The revolt had sparked a serious political crisis, and his rebellion defeated even trained Roman legions. Rich and influential, he joined the triumvirate for both practical and emotional reasons. 200 million sesterces was what Rhodes paid to Cassius to keep him from sacking the city, which was a … When a Roman general achieved a significant military victory, the city would organize a ceremony, known as a triumphus (triumph) in his honor. Following Cinna's death, Crassus sided with Sulla against Marius, and, as one of his most able commanders, helped him … Descended from an aristocratic family in Rome, ​Marcus Licinius Crassus, known as \"the richest man in Rome\" during his life-time, was partially credited with securing victory for the Republic over the forces of Spartacus during the Third Servile War and would later become a founding member, along with Julius Caesar and Pompey Magnus, of the First Triumvirate. Crassus had political and military ambitions and used his wealth to pursue them. to form a political alliance that would come to dominate Rome: the so-called First Triumvirate. His forces fought in the Battle of the Colline Gate in 82 B.C., which would end the civil war between Marius and Sulla. var stampdays = new Array( "Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday"); Forbes estimated Crassus’s wealth in contemporary dollars at $170 billion! According to several sources, Crassus would rush to a burning building, buy it from the owner, then order his slave-labor firefighters to put out the fire. Not for nothing did Plutarch say in his Life of Crassus: Crassus and Pompey to dominate the Republic as the First Triumvirate •The Roman Senate worried that Caesar was becoming too popular and powerful •They ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome Caesar Pompey Crassus Caesar defied the order and marched his men across the Rubicon River, and into Rome Defeated other members The unscrupulous real estate tycoon was not, however, lacking in social skills. He earned his fortune of proscriptions, slave trafficking, judicious purchases of … Crassus took care of Caesar’s debts before he left on his governorship of Hispania Ulterior (in southern Spain) in 62 B.C., further solidifying the relationship between the two men. Crassus was known in Rome as Dives, meaning "The Rich". (See also: Romans prized these jewels more than diamonds.). rpp: 6, How did he become so rich? The relationship between Crassus and Gaius Julius Caesar grew out of such an arrangement. Crassus also ran a school for slaves. color: #0080FF; var thedate = new Date(); The rivalry and jealousy were to determine the future career of Crassus. .Aqua { This great empire flourished through innovation and incorporation of the diverse cultures they conquered, such as the adoption of Latin and gladiatorial combat. Thus it was at Carrhae in 53 that a greater Roman infantry force was defeated by an inferior Parthian force of cavalry and archers and Crassus himself was killed in the fighting. The relationship between Pompey and Crassus did not improve. He was also cordial and kind to everyone, even to the humblest people who stopped him on the street. GA_googleFillSlot("socialstudiesforkids-DLB");