Editor Hana Conte - 9
The Rise and Fall of Crassus
Central Gubernator Henry Allen (Wellington)
Rome, a city notorious for its fires, had no official firefighters during the Late Republic. All you had if your insula burned down was Marcus Licinius Crassus, with his 500 enslaved men of a fire brigade that were closer to an eminent domain crew than a public service. Selling your building to him for basically nothing was literally your only option if your house was on fire, as Crassus and his crew would only put out the blaze if you sold your home to him at a "fire sale" price. This, along with other ventures like human trafficking and silver mining, secured him unparalleled wealth.
By the point he owned half of Rome and was elected
Consul, Crassus formed an unofficial alliance dubbed
the First Triumvirate. However, as time went on,
Crassus’ role in this relationship was to serve as the
purse. Caesar had his success in Gaul; Pompey
had his glory from sweeping through the East. While
his investment into their campaigns was essential, he
was finding himself in the background. Sure, he had
more money than the Roman treasury, but what he
didn’t have was military glory—the true currency of
Roman respect.
Crassus thought that Parthia would be his Gaul or Eastern frontier—his golden ticket to glory. When he and his seven legions arrived in Syria, his ally led him to the battlefield with all in high spirits. But it turned out that the ally was in the employ of the enemy and had led him into a trap. His forces found themselves weeks into the desert away from water and they were ambushed. The Parthian cavalry-and-arrow ambush, while only containing a fourth of Crassus’ force, annihilated his army. Half of his army was killed, and half of those remaining were taken into slavery. The Battle of Carrhae wasn't just the death of Crassus. With several Legionary Eagles stolen, it was an utter humiliation for the Roman people.
A story later emerged that, after Crassus' death, the Parthians poured molten gold into his mouth in symbolic mockery of his thirst for wealth. Crassus was no fool, but he was a victim of his own ambitions. In a world where money talks but military triumphs scream, Crassus became a cautionary tale of what happens when you mistake wealth for omnipotence.
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