marcus licinius crassus
a brief bio
87 BCE: Marius and Cinna seized power.
They hunted down
the noble class.
* We're drawing Crassus as a baby seagull here because at this point, Plutarch continually refers to his age as "very young" and baby chicks are funny looking. But, really, when you do the math he was like 26 or 28.
Years later, Crassus would become the wealthiest man in Rome,
and victim to one of Rome's most embarrassing military defeats.
* According to Plutarch, the women were treated nicely. Take that as you will.
In 84 BCE, when Cinna was killed in a mutiny,
Crassus joined Sulla in civil war against Marius' supporters
Despite Sulla's clear preference for Pompey,
Crassus was the one who saved Sulla's feathers in the battle for Rome against the Marians. (Marius's supporters)
The Battle of Colline gate.
Crassus held strong, while sulla's army began to break. Crassus routed the enemy's left-wing, and chased them until nightfall. News of Crassus' total victory rallied Sulla's men, inspiring a successful counter attack.
and chased them
until nightfall.
Crassus started the first firefighting brigade!
Except it was a little diffrent than the firefighting teams we have today.
Fires were common in Ancient Rome, and Crassus was this as a money-making opportunity.
Either sell the house for cheap to Crassus and he puts the fire out...
Or watch it burn down.
* Also Crassus got a lot of property from Sulla, who was auctioning off the homes of the Marians. Crassus had no problem being a war profiteer.
Meanwhile, in gladiator school.
Spartacus and about 70 gladiators broke free from Capua.
* A particularly harsh gladiator school.
Spartacus quickly proved himself to be a serious threat to Rome
* Spartacus's body was never found.
Crassus teamed up with Pompey and Caesar, forming an unofficial political alliance called the first triumvirate.
He and Pompey became consuls together.
But then didn't agree on anything and literally got nothing done.
Then over the next few years,
So, despite peace treaties, and general disapproval, Crassus was granted a military command to invade Parthia.
The Parthian campaign started off ok...
* Imperator was a title given to a general by his troops after an especially great victory.
but then it got worse,
and ended very badly.
The battle of Carrhae went down in history as one of Rome's most embarrassing defeats.
check out the full story here:
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