History UsefulNotes / MarcusLiciniusCrassus

He secured the governorship of Syria, not only a very wealthy province, but also near to Parthia, one of the few kingdoms left in the known world not already conquered by the Romans. It seemed an attractive prospect for glory and booty, and Crassus may also have had in mind Pompey's easy victories in the region. Even among the Romans, who never needed much PretextForWar, Crassus' plans to invade Parthia attracted strong opposition. He nevertheless left for the east, and crossed into Parthia with seven legions. However, it had been almost twenty years since Crassus, now 62-years-old, had last seen action during the slave war, the invasion was poorly planned [[note]]Crassus refused significant amounts of reinforcements (numbering similarly to his own forces) from Armenia to march toward Parthia as quickly as possible... through the desert.[[/note]], and the Parthians [[MuggingTheMonster were a more formidable foe than expected]]. Crassus' army, mainly consisting of infantry, was easily outmanoeuvred by the Parthian horse archers in the desert and suffered a major defeat at Carrhae[[note]]Not to be confused with Cannae, the site of another famous Roman defeat, at the hands of Hannibal in 216 BC.[[/note]]. The defeat was so bad the Parthian king thought it made the commander at Carrhae, Surena, look too good and had him executed out of [[GreenEyedMonster envy]]. Crassus lost heart when he learned that his son Publius had been killed in the fighting. Crassus himself was killed soon after when a fight broke out during a parley with the Parthians.

His methods of acquiring wealth were unscrupulous, and earned him an enduring reputation for {{greed}} and [[TheScrooge avarice]]. He took advantage of the proscriptions of Sulla's reign to buy up the property of outlawed patricians and enemies which showed up on the lists, and was noted to add names onto the list based on how much Crassus thought their property would be worth on Rome's real-estate market. Such greed took even Sulla by surprise. During fires in the city (a frequent occurence in the ancient world), he would buy burning houses and ones adjacent to them at knockdown prices, then a team of slaves he had on standby would put out the fire and rebuild the property (if the owner refused to sell, it would be left to burn). Crassus would often then lease the property back to the person he had just bought it from.

Crassus' death also had major implications for the Republic. Without Crassus to counter-balance Pompey and Caesar, their alliance steadily deteriorated, culminating in CivilWar a few years later. The ShockingDefeatLegacy of the Romans at the hands of the Parthians was traumatic enough that many Romans made vengeance against the Parthians, and getting back the captured legionary Eagles, a top priority. Caesar was planning an invasion of Parthia at the time of his assassination (said event was planned because senators believed Julius would succeed where Crassus failed and that this victory would make him and his populare constitutency unshakable). Later UsefulNotes/MarkAntony did invade Parthia, only to lose even worse than Crassus did. It was UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} who finally managed to return the Eagles back to home, albeit by diplomatic means.

Crassus' death also had major implications for the Republic. Without Crassus to counter-balance Pompey and Caesar, their alliance steadily deteriorated, culminating in CivilWar a few years later. The ShockingDefeatLegacy of the Romans at the hands of the Parthians was traumatic enough that many Romans made vengeance against the Parthians, and getting back the captured legionary Eagles, a top priority. Caesar was planning an invasion of Parthia at the time of his assassination (said event was planned because senators believed Julius would succeed where Crassus failed and that this victory would make him and his populare constitutency unshakable). Later Mark Antony did invade Parthia, only to lose even worse than Crassus did. It was UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} who finally managed to return the Eagles back to home, albeit by diplomatic means.

Crassus in modern HistoricalFiction almost always gets a HistoricalVillainUpgrade. The major military success in his career was crushing a slave revolt, and his overall profile and background were sleazy. These make it hard for a modern audience to see him in the light of the Roman era. He tends to be OvershadowedByAwesome and is usually a supporting character in the stories of his more celebrated contemporaries Caesar, Cicero and Pompey, or otherwise the VillainAntagonist/[[AristocratsAreEvil Evil Aristocrat]] to TheHero Spartacus. A lot of fiction has also been devoted to [[LostRomanLegion survivors of Crassus' army from Carrhae]].

* ''Spartacus'', a 2004 miniseries directed by Robert Dornhelm. Angus Macfadyen plays Crassus.

* ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'': Crassus is played by Creator/LaurenceOlivier and portrayed as a DepravedBisexual aristocrat who uses the slave revolt as an excuse to launch a coup d'etat in Rome.

His methods of acquiring wealth were unscrupulous, and earned him an enduring reputation for [[TheScrooge greed and avarice]]. He took advantage of the proscriptions of Sulla's reign to buy up the property of outlawed patricians and enemies which showed up on the lists, and was noted to add names onto the list based on how much Crassus thought their property would be worth on Rome's real-estate market. Such greed took even Sulla by surprise. During fires in the city (a frequent occurence in the ancient world), he would buy burning houses and ones adjacent to them at knockdown prices, then a team of slaves he had on standby would put out the fire and rebuild the property (if the owner refused to sell, it would be left to burn). Crassus would often then lease the property back to the person he had just bought it from.

Crassus made his mark as a fellow conspirator of the dictator Sulla Felix, where his boon companion was Pompey himself. His father was targeted and killed by the Marians, forcing him to side with Sulla when the latter retook Rome. Crassus commanded the right wing of Sulla's army at the decisive battle of the Colline Gate, which left Sulla in control of Rome. Over time, Crassus amassed an enormous fortune through property speculation, moneylending and slave trading. His riches far outstripped that of even his wealthiest contemporaries: Plutarch put his wealth at 7,100 talents, or 229 tonnes of gold. Pliny the Elder claimed Crassus was worth 200 million sesterces, on a par with the Roman treasury itself.[[note]]By [[http://www.neatorama.com/2008/07/09/10-richest-people-of-all-time-and-how-they-made-their-fortunes/ one modern estimate]], to the extent that it means anything, he was worth the equivalent of $169 billion, twice that of Bill Gates.[[/note]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' he appears briefly in "Asterix and Latraviata"

* In an episode of ''Series/HorribleHistories'', Crassus is the subject of a song "I'm Minted", a parody of the Dizzee Rascal song "Bonkers".

* ''Series/{{Rome}}'': In a conversation with UsefulNotes/{{Cicero}}, Mark Antony makes an ImpliedDeathThreat by mentioning Crassus' fate of having molten gold poured down his throat.

He secured the governorship of Syria, not only a very wealthy province, but also near to Parthia, one of the few kingdoms left in the known world not already conquered by the Romans. It seemed an attractive prospect for glory and booty, and Crassus may also have had in mind Pompey's easy victories in the region. Even among the Romans, who never needed much PretextForWar, Crassus' plans to invade Parthia attracted strong opposition. He nevertheless left for the east, and crossed into Parthia with seven legions. However, it had been almost twenty years since Crassus, now 62-years-old, had last seen action during the slave war, the invasion was poorly planned [[note]]Such as, Crassus refusing significant amounts of reinforcements (numbering similarly to his own forces) from Armenia to march toward Parthia as quickly as possible...through the desert.[[/note]], and the Parthians [[MuggingTheMonster were a more formidable foe than expected]]. Crassus' army, mainly consisting of infantry, was easily outmanoeuvred by the Parthian horse archers in the desert and suffered a major defeat at Carrhae - a defeat so bad that the Parthian king thought it made the commander at Carrhae, Surena, look too good and had him executed out of [[GreenEyedMonster envy]].[[note]]Not to be confused with Cannae, the site of another famous Roman defeat, at the hands of Hannibal in 216 BC.[[/note]] Crassus lost heart when he learned that his son Publius had been killed in the fighting. Crassus himself was killed soon after when a fight broke out during a parley with the Parthians.

He secured the governorship of Syria, not only a very wealthy province, but also near to Parthia, one of the few kingdoms left in the known world not already conquered by the Romans. It seemed an attractive prospect for glory and booty, and Crassus may also have had in mind Pompey's easy victories in the region. Even among the Romans, who never needed much PretextForWar, Crassus' plans to invade Parthia attracted strong opposition. He nevertheless left for the east, and crossed into Parthia with seven legions. However, it had been almost twenty years since Crassus, now 62-years-old, had last seen action during the slave war, the invasion was poorly planned, and the Parthians [[MuggingTheMonster were a more formidable foe than expected]]. Crassus' army, mainly consisting of infantry, was easily outmanoeuvred by the Parthian horse archers in the desert and suffered a major defeat at Carrhae - a defeat so bad that the Parthian king thought it made the commander at Carrhae, Surena, look too good and had him executed out of [[GreenEyedMonster envy]].[[note]]Not to be confused with Cannae, the site of another famous Roman defeat, at the hands of Hannibal in 216 BC.[[/note]] Crassus lost heart when he learned that his son Publius had been killed in the fighting. Crassus himself was killed soon after when a fight broke out during a parley with the Parthians.

As such, Marcus Crassus sought repeatedly to extend his circle and influence. He was known as a glad handler, courteous to all who greeted him, however low their rank. He was generous to friends and clients, paid off debts of prominent Romans and gave out interest free loans (though was known to be particularly zealous in recovering money loaned out). Considered a fine orator in his own right, he frequently advocated for defendants in court cases, even cases that were considered hopeless, another way of placing others in his debt.

At the outset, Caesar was decidedly the junior partner in the alliance. Pompey was seen as Rome's greatest general and conqueror, Crassus was the richest man in Rome, Caesar was a lawyer whose teenage years included a brush with Sulla's proscription list. But soon the tables were turning. Caesar was becoming a surprising late bloomer. News soon reached across Italy of Caesar's military conquests in Gaul. Crassus and Pompey were elected to a second consulship in 54 BC but once again accomplished little. Crassus once again sought military glory.

As such, Marcus Crassus sought repeatedly to extend his circle and influence. He was known as a glad handler, courteous to all who greeted him, however low their rank. He was generous to friends and clients, paid off debts of prominent Romans and gave out interest free loans (though was known to be particularly zealous in recovering money loaned out). Considered a fine orator in his own right, he frequently advocated for defendants in court cases, even cases that where considered hopeless, another way of placing others in his debt.

As such, Marcus Crassus sought repeatedly to extend his circle and influence. He was known as a glad handler, courteous to all who greeted him, however low their rank. He was generous to friends and clients. Considered a fine orator in his own right, he frequently advocated for defendants in court cases, another way of placing others in his debt. He paid off the debts of many prominent Romans, among them Julius Caesar, who accumulated enormous debts in order to win various offices. Despite being an optimate and Caesar being a populare, both were ambitious outsiders, and the two of them became friends.

Nevertheless, his defeat of the slaves helped him win the consulship in 70 BC, along with Pompey. According to Plutarch, the two men did not get along, disagreed on almost everything, and as a result their consulship accomplished almost nothing. Around this time, Crassus also became the patron of Julius Caesar, funding Caesar's election to the post of Pontifex Maximus in 65 BC. In 60/59 BC, Caesar brokered an alliance between the three of them, later known as the First Triumvirate: in return for Pompey and Crassus' support of his election to the consulship, he promised to push through laws wanted by both men, which had been frustrated for years by their enemies in the Senate. Pompey wished to grant land to his veterans, Crassus wished to relieve the debts of the publicani, with whom he had close links. Caesar was duly elected.

Marcus Licinius Crassus (c. 115 BC - 53 BC) was an [[UsefulNotes/AncientRome Ancient Roman]] general and politician and an important figure in the [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic late Republic]]. He was a contemporary of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar and UsefulNotes/PompeyTheGreat, with whom he formed the First Triumvirate, an alliance which saw the trio dominate the Republic in the 50s BC.

His methods of acquiring wealth were unscrupulous, and earned him an enduring reputation for [[TheMiser greed and avarice]]. He took advantage of the proscriptions of Sulla's reign to buy up the property of outlawed patricians and enemies which showed up on the lists, and was noted to add names onto the list based on how much Crassus thought their property would be worth on Rome's real-estate market. Such greed took even Sulla by surprise. During fires in the city (a frequent occurence in the ancient world), he would buy burning houses and ones adjacent to them at knockdown prices, then a team of slaves he had on standby would put out the fire and rebuild the property (if the owner refused to sell, it would be left to burn). Crassus would often then lease the property back to the person he had just bought it from.

He secured the governorship of Syria, not only a very wealthy province, but also near to Parthia, one of the few kingdoms left in the known world not already conquered by the Romans. It seemed an attractive prospect for glory and booty, and Crassus may also have had in mind Pompey's easy victories in the region. Even among the Romans, who never needed much PretextForWar, Crassus' plans to invade Parthia attracted strong opposition. He nevertheless left for the east, and crossed into Parthia with seven legions. However, it had been almost twenty years since Crassus, now 62-years-old, had last seen action during the slave war, the invasion was poorly planned, and the Parthians [[MuggingTheMonster were a more formidable foe than expected]]. Crassus' army, mainly consisting of infantry, was easily outmanoeuvred by the Parthian horse archers in the desert and suffered a major defeat at Carrhae - a defeat so bad that the Parthian king thought it made the commander at Carrhae, Surena, look too good and had him executed out of envy.[[note]]Not to be confused with Cannae, the site of another famous Roman defeat, at the hands of Hannibal in 216 BC.[[/note]] Crassus lost heart when he learned that his son Publius had been killed in the fighting. Crassus himself was killed soon after when a fight broke out during a parley with the Parthians.

* In Robert Harris' ''Literature/{{Imperium}}'', Crassus is a major character, portrayed as an AffablyEvil ManipulativeBastard.

* ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'': Crassus is played by Creator/LaurenceOlivier and portrayed as a DepravedBisexual aristocrat.

He secured the governorship of Syria, not only a very wealthy province, but also near to Parthia, one of the few kingdoms left in the known world not already conquered by the Romans. It seemed an attractive prospect for glory and booty, and Crassus may also have had in mind Pompey's easy victories in the region. Even among the Romans, who never needed much PretextForWar, Crassus' plans to invade Parthia attracted strong opposition. He nevertheless left for the east, and crossed into Parthia with seven legions. However, it had been almost twenty years since Crassus, now 62-years-old, had last seen action during the slave war, the invasion was poorly planned, and the Parthians [[MuggingTheMonster were a more formidable foe than expected]]. Crassus' army, mainly consisting of infantry, was easily outmanoeuvred by the Parthian horse archers in the desert and suffered a major defeat at Carrhae.[[note]]Not to be confused with Cannae, the site of another famous Roman defeat, at the hands of Hannibal in 216 BC.[[/note]] Crassus lost heart when he learned that his son Publius had been killed in the fighting. Crassus himself was killed soon after when a fight broke out during a parley with the Parthians.

* Crassus is one of the individuals profiled in Plutarch's ''Literature/ParallelLives''. His biography is paired with the fifth century BC Greek general and politican Nicias.

* He appears in Colleen [=McCullough=]'s ''Literature/MastersOfRome'' as an ally of Caesar.

* Crassus is one of the individuals profiled in Plutarch's ''Parallel Lives''. His biography is paired with the fifth century BC Greek general and politican Nicias.