Marcus Crassus: The Life and Legacy of Ancient Rome's Richest Man

Marcus Licinius Crassus is most remembered today for being the richest Roman in history, and arguably the richest man in world history, but that came about in part because he played a key role in the revolutionary events that took place in Rome throughout the 1st century BCE, including the dictatorship of Sulla, the Third Servile War, the First Triumvirate, and the Parthian Wars. Crassus was the son of Publius Licinius Crassus, who was consul in 97 BCE, and while very little is known of Crassus' early life, his career as a military figure began in earnest when he escaped from Rome in 87 BCE to Spain to avoid Lucius Cornelius Cinna, who, along with Gaius Marius, led the opposition against Sulla.



Thanks to his rise in the military and politics, Crassus's renown and riches heavily influenced his contemporaries. In the wake of the Third Servile War, Crassus' patronage helped position Julius Caesar to be appointed governor of Hispania Ulterior. In order to maintain political office, which made him immune from prosecution for his debts, he left for modern day Spain before his praetorship expired. Caesar made this move knowing that governors were immune from prosecution, but governors also had vitally important military responsibilities via command of whatever legions were garrisoned in their territory. It would be as governor that Caesar's military career truly took off, starting with his victories over a couple of local tribes. These military successes earned him the title Imperator, the Roman equivalent of the title of Commander.



Likewise, Caesar was heavily sponsored in his run for Consul by Crassus, and in a brilliant stroke of diplomacy, he succeeded in reconciling Crassus with Pompey, Rome's powerful and vastly successful general. Alongside Pompey and Caesar, Crassus established the First Triumvirate, with Crassus supplying the funds, Pompey the muscle, and Caesar the political clout necessary for governing the city. Though later triumvirates officially wielded power, like the Second Triumvirate (which formed in the wake of Caesar's assassination and included his heir Augustus and longtime general Mark Antony), this First Triumvirate acted behind the scenes to run Rome unofficially.



The triumvirate would come to an end when Crassus met a sudden and unexpected end while campaigning in the east against the Parthians. Ironically, his failed campaign is better remembered than the rest of his life because of the way his reputation brought about his manner of death: ancient writers claimed that shortly after he was killed in fighting, the Parthians poured molten gold down his throat and then used his head as a prop in a play.