126 BC), was facetiously given the Greek nickname Agelastus (the unlaughing or grim) by his contemporary Gaius Lucilius, the inventor of Roman satire, who asserted that he smiled once in his whole life. Ĭrassus' grandfather of the same name, Marcus Licinius Crassus (praetor c. But no ancient source accords him or his father the Dives cognomen in fact, we are explicitly informed that his great wealth was acquired rather than inherited, and that he was raised in modest circumstances. In addition, the Dives cognomen of the Crassi Divites means rich or wealthy, and since Marcus Crassus, the subject here, was renowned for his enormous wealth, this has contributed to hasty assumptions that his family belonged to the Divites. There were three main branches of the house of the Licinii Crassi in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, and many mistakes in identifications and lines have arisen owing to the uniformity of Roman nomenclature, erroneous modern suppositions, and the unevenness of information across the generations. Crassus had the unusual distinction of marrying his wife Tertulla after she had been widowed by his brother. 116 BC), died shortly before the Italic War, and Crassus' father and younger brother were either slain or took their own lives in Rome, in winter 87–86 BC, when being hunted down by the supporters of Gaius Marius, following their victory in the Bellum Octavianum. This line was not descended from the wealthy Crassi Divites, although often assumed to be.

He was the second of three sons born to the eminent senator and vir triumphalis Publius Licinius Crassus (consul 95 BC, censor 89 BC). Marcus Licinius Crassus was a member of the gens Licinia, an old and highly respected plebeian family in Rome. Within four years of Crassus' death, Caesar crossed the Rubicon and began a civil war against Pompey and the optimates. Crassus' campaign was a disastrous failure, ending in his defeat and death at the Battle of Carrhae.Ĭrassus' death permanently unraveled the alliance between Caesar and Pompey, since his political influence and wealth had been a counterbalance to the two greater militarists. Crassus used Syria as the launchpad for a military campaign against the Parthian Empire, Rome's long-time eastern enemy. Following his second consulship, Crassus was appointed as the governor of Roman Syria. The alliance was restabilized at the Luca Conference in 56 BC, after which Crassus and Pompey again served jointly as consuls. While Caesar and Crassus were lifelong allies, Crassus and Pompey disliked each other and Pompey grew increasingly envious of Caesar's spectacular successes in the Gallic Wars.

Together, the three men dominated the Roman political system, but the alliance did not last long, due to the ambitions, egos, and jealousies of the three men.

Crassus rose to political prominence following his victory over the slave revolt led by Spartacus, sharing the consulship with his rival Pompey the Great.Ī political and financial patron of Julius Caesar, Crassus joined Caesar and Pompey in the unofficial political alliance known as the First Triumvirate. Following Sulla's assumption of the dictatorship, Crassus amassed an enormous fortune through real estate speculation. He is often called 'the richest man in Rome.' Ĭrassus began his public career as a military commander under Lucius Cornelius Sulla during his civil war. Marcus Licinius Crassus ( / ˈ k r æ s ə s/ 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.

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