Marcus Licinius Crassus

Roman politician, landowner, and military leader

• Born: c. 115 b.c.e.
• Birthplace: Unknown
• Died: 53 b.c.e.
• Place of death: Near Carrhae (later Harran, Turkey)

Crassus, one of the wealthiest men in ancient Rome, acquired a vast fortune to further his political career. In doing so, he became one of the most powerful and influential figures of the late Roman Republic, along with Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Cicero.

Sources of wealth: Real estate; slaveholding; conquest; investments

Bequeathal of wealth: Spouse; children

Early Life

Marcus Licinius Crassus (MAR-kuhs li-SIHN-ee-us KRAS-suh), though born into an illustrious Roman family (the Licinii clan), was raised in modest surroundings compared with his patrician contemporaries. His father, Publius Licinius Crassus, a celebrated politician and general in his own right, endeavored to instill the tenets of moderation and temperance in his offspring, most likely because of economic necessity, as well as principle. The young Crassus lived with his father, his mother (Vinuleia), and two married brothers in a single dwelling, quite small in comparison with the houses of other Roman nobility. As the son of a Roman senator, Crassus received an education typical for a young man of his background, one firmly grounded in the rhetorical arts, history, and philosophy. Tragedy struck the Licinii household in 87 b.c.e., when both Crassus’s father and an older brother were killed as a result of General Gaius Marius’s rise to power. The vicissitudes of a Roman civil war left Crassus both physically vulnerable and financially limited. Forced to flee Rome to the confines of Spain, Crassus, with only 300 talents to his name (a sum roughly equivalent to $4.2 million), joined the forces of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the political rival of Marius.

First Ventures

The years spent fighting Marius under Sulla’s tutelage from 83 to 81 b.c.e. proved revelatory to Crassus, who later remarked that one could not be considered truly wealthy unless one could support an army out of one’s personal income. However, Crassus’s political ambitions were advanced not by military success but through the acquisition of enormous wealth. After the forces of Marius had been routed, Sulla and Crassus marched on Rome and enjoyed the fruits of plunder, which sprouted from the property of their defeated rivals. Crassus took advantage of any opportunity to enrich himself. In Spain he had pillaged the city of Malaca, and later in Italy he appropriated for himself the spoils from the captured Umbrian city of Tuder.

It was not, however, the treasure from broken cities but the proceeds from real estate sales which became the foundation of Crassus’s growing fortune. Crassus had accumulated large amounts of land, buying at low cost the confiscated property owned by Sulla’s political foes and selling it at a premium. This kind of questionable profiteering was a practice common to Sulla himself and his followers, but Crassus’s avarice was further demonstrated by his blatant manipulation of the proscription lists, which contained the names of those whose property was to be confiscated. Crassus’s association with Sulla ended only when he added a man’s name to the proscription lists—without Sulla’s authorization—for the sole purpose of obtaining the man’s property.

Mature Wealth

Crassus used his rapidly increasing fortune to fund his political career, and in the year 70 b.c.e. he was rewarded for his efforts with his first consulship. Much of his wealth came from the sale of valuable real estate in the city of Rome itself. It would be a mistake to say that Crassus was a land developer per se, for he tended to avoid building on the property he purchased. He often said that people who liked to build houses needed no enemies, since they would far too easily ruin themselves. During the years of the late Roman Republic, newly enrolled senators needed houses in Rome rather than estates in the country to maintain their recently acquired status and to have a place to live while the senate was in session. In pursuit of suitable land for the homes of his senatorial clientele, Crassus was utterly relentless. For example, during the year 73 b.c.e. he spent so much time hovering around a Vestal virgin named Licinia in order to pressure her to sell him her lucrative suburban villa that he was accused of impropriety. In the end, Crassus was cleared of any wrongdoing and acquired Licinia’s estate. Property in poorer sections of Rome did not escape Crassus’s roving eye. He often bought for next to nothing houses damaged or destroyed by fires. Some hostile accounts suggest that the fires’ origins may be traced to Crassus himself, as he or his agents often materialized to make an offer just as the fires started. Dealing in real estate was extremely profitable, demonstrated by the fact that Crassus sold a house in Rome to his sometime rival Cicero for the tidy sum of 3.5 million sesterces, or $17.5 million in twenty-first century American currency.

When Crassus became consul in 70 b.c.e., he could afford public displays of his wealth. Although records are not clear as to the total amount of Crassus’s fortune at the time, he was able to dedicate 10 percent of this wealth to the Temple of Hercules, to host a public banquet with ten thousand tables, and to provide enough grain to feed every citizen in Rome for three months. Considering that population estimates for Rome number a little less than one million inhabitants for this time period, Crassus’s expenditure was considerable.

In addition to assets derived from the sale of land, Crassus possessed a diverse portfolio, which included numerous silver mines, alleged holdings in tax collection companies, and, of course, many slaves. Crassus stated that it was a master’s responsibility to care for this valuable “human capital” which was vital for the running of estates. Ancient sources maintain that Crassus owned a small army of highly skilled slaves whose training and education their master personally supervised. Crassus used slaves with masonry, woodworking, and architectural skills in his real estate ventures. Slaves who were trained as administrators, clerks, and readers were also employed by Crassus or hired out for their services.

Crassus’s financial investments were all calculated primarily with an eye to his political advancement. These investments enabled him to extend his political aspirations far beyond the consulship, as shown by his election to the position of censor in 65 b.c.e. He won a second consulship in 55 b.c.e. Throughout his career, Crassus used his wealth to establish political networks and build alliances that made him one of the Roman Republic’s leading political figures. He commonly granted interest-free loans to friends and associates in exchange for favors, engendering obligations that could be used to advance his own ambitions. In 62 b.c.e., for instance, Crassus stood as guarantor of Julius Caesar’s debts to the sum of 820 talents (roughly $11.5 million), allowing Caesar to further his political career as praetor of Spain. In doing so, Crassus paved the way for an alliance (the first so-called triumvirate) with Caesar, in which he, Caesar, and Pompey would monopolize political power in Rome from 60 to 53 b.c.e.

In the end, Crassus’s ambition proved to be his undoing. Attempting to follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, Crassus led and funded a military expedition against the Parthians, Rome’s eastern enemy. He and one of his sons died in battle in 53 b.c.e. near the city of Carrahe. Neither his personal estate, which at the time of his death was worth 7,100 talents ($99.5 million), nor the 10,000 talents ($140 million) he had earlier taken from the Temple of Jerusalem could save him from a Parthian’s blade.

Legacy

The ancient sources have not been kind to Crassus. His wealth has become proverbial, and the man himself is portrayed as an example of unbridled avarice. A particularly resonant example is that of the Parthians pouring molten gold down the throat of the decapitated head of Crassus to mock his greed. Yet upon reflection, Crassus’s career differed little from those of his contemporaries, such as Julius Caesar or Pompey, who both plundered their way to the top of Roman politics. Even Crassus’s wealth, although considerable, was less than that of Pompey or Sulla. What made Crassus different from men such as Pompey, Sulla, or Caesar was the fact that money, and not military command, was the key to his acquisition of political power.

Despite the unsavory origins of his wealth, Crassus conscientiously employed his financial resources as a servant of the Roman people. Moreover, Crassus did not engage in conspicuous consumption or lavish entertainments. True to his upbringing, he always lived modestly, and his dinners were distinguished by the quality of his guests rather than of his table. Crassus maintained that success in life lay not only in the careful management of money but also in the equally astute management of people.

Bibliography

Cicero. Selected Letters. Translated by P. G. Walsh. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2008. Cicero, a contemporary and sometime political opponent of Crassus, provides incidental but insightful details on Crassus and the political machinations of the last days of the Roman Republic.

Gruen, Erich. The Last Generation of the Roman Republic. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. A masterful account of the politics during the last days of the Roman Republic. With fulsome notes and bibliography, this is the foundational work on the subject.

Marshall, B. A. Crassus: A Political Biography. Amsterdam: A.M. Hakkert, 1976. A thorough treatment of Crassus, which deemphasizes the presumed animosity between Crassus and Pompey.

Plutarch. Fall of the Roman Republic: Six Lives. Translated by Rex Warner. Reprint. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1981. An important primary source on Crassus’s life written during the second century c.e.

Sampson, Gareth. The Defeat of Rome in the East: Crassus, the Parthians, and the Disastrous Battle of Carrhae, 53 B.C. Barnsley, England: Pen & Sword Military, 2008. A vivid account focusing on Crassus’s campaign against the Parthians.

Ward, Alan. Marcus Crassus and the Late Roman Republic. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1977. A well-researched biography of Crassus, which attempts to rehabilitate his position in his alliance with Pompey and Julius Caesar.