46 MAY/JUNE 2019
Julius Caesar, an ambitious military commander
beginning a life in politics. Crassus had once
been Caesar’s patron, and the two remained al-
lies. The third member was the proud and pow-
erful Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Pompey the
Great, a former rival and now an uneasy ally.
Crassus’ decision to unite with these two men
could seem baffling. Rich and influential, he
joined the triumvirate for both practical and
emotional reasons. This alliance with Caesar
and Pompey not only helped pass laws favor-
able to his economic interests, but also gave
Crassus the chance to prove his mettle as a
soldier and earn the love reserved for Rome’s
great commanders. It was aIn 60 B.C. Marcus Licinius Crassus was one of the
most powerful men in Rome. A military com-
mander who crushed a slave rebellion, Crassus
had become a respected orator, patron, and poli-
tician, serving as consul twice among other po-
sitions. Through a combination of savvy and
ruthlessness, he amassed the largest fortune in
Rome. With Crassus’ money and connections,
many men would have been content, but Crassus
was not one of them.
Crassus joined forces with two other
men in 60 B.C. to form a political alli-
ance that would come to dominate
Rome: the so-called First Triumvi-
rate. Alongside Crassus stood GaiusTHE VICE
OF AVARICE
A 1563 engraving,
“The Wretchedness
of Wealth” (above),
depicts Crassus in
the company of other
men known for greed,
such as the dictator
Sulla (with heads
hanging from
his sword).
SPARTACUS. STATUE OF THE REBEL SLAVE. DENIS FOYATIER, 1847.
OJÉDA/RMN-GRAND PALAISMONEY
AND
GLORY
82 B.C.
Crassus commands a
section of the army of Lucius
Cornelius Sulla in the Battle of
the Colline Gate against Gaius
Marius’s supporters. Crassus
manages to defeat the left
wing of the rival army.After a succession of defeats,
the Roman Senate gives
Crassus command to fight
against Spartacus. Crassus
stops the rebels by the Sele
River and massacres them
after a hard-fought battle.71 B.C.
CHASING
AFTER
WEALTH
I
N THE FIRST CENTURY B.C. Romans had
an uneasy relationship with ostentatious
displays of and pursuit of wealth. Estab-
lished in 509 B.C., the Roman Republic
embraced austerity and simplicity as core
values. Many credited these tenets as the
behavior that had made Rome great. Ro-
mans considered themselves superior to
foreign kings who embraced luxury and its
inevitable consequences: dissipation and
decadence. As the republic entered its fi-
nal decades, Crassus’ unabashed desire
for money made him an easy target for
disdain. When writing about Crassus after
his death, Plutarch could not see past this
trait: “The Romans, it is true, say that the
many virtues of Crassus were obscured by
his sole vice of avarice; and it is likely that
the one vice which became stronger than
all the others in him weakened the rest.”PHOTO:COLOR: J. L. RODRÍGUEZ QUINTLOX/AURIMAGES.