Page 10 - Cause & Effect: Ancient Rome

to himself but to the commander who appeared on the scene with
reinforcements.” Th erefore, “he made all haste he could to fi nish the
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war” before Pompey arrived. Th is strategy failed. Just as Crassus
feared, Pompey arrived at the last minute, helped defeat the slaves
(in 71 BCE), and afterward received most of the honors for the
victory.

Crassus’s Resentment
of Pompey

Various ancient sources paint a picture of Marcus Crassus as both devious
and manipulative in his dealings with people and extremely jealous of other
successful men, especially his archrival, Pompey. In a juicy passage from
his biography of Crassus, Plutarch said:

Crassus was remarkably clever at fl attering all types of people and
getting them on his side. On the other hand, he could easily be taken
in himself by anyone who fl attered him. Another trait of his which
has been observed was that, though he was the most avaricious
[greedy] person in the world, he particularly disliked and was con-
stantly abusing others who were also avaricious. He was much an-
noyed by Pompey’s successes as a commander, by the triumph [vic-
tory parade] which he held before becoming a senator, and by the
title of “Magnus,” or “The Great,” which he received from his fellow
citizens. On one occasion when someone said: “Pompey the Great is
coming,” Crassus merely laughed and asked, “As great as what?” Giv-
ing up, therefore, all attempts to equal Pompey in military matters,
Crassus devoted himself to politics. Here, by taking pains, by help-
ing people in the law courts or with loans, [he] acquired an infl uence
and reputation equal to that which Pompey had won by all his great
military expeditions.

Plutarch, Life of Crassus, in Fall of the Roman Republic: Six Lives by Plutarch, trans. Rex Warner.
New York: Penguin, 1972, p. 120.

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