Daily Roman Facts:

Marcus Licinius Crassus, of First Triumvirate fame, was known as the richest man in Rome. One trick he used to gain his wealth involved his own fire brigade. At the time Rome didn't have a public fire fighting force, so if a fire occured Crassus would show up with his crew and offer to buy the burning building at an incredibly low ball offer. If the tenant accepted he would put out the fire and add it to his real estate empire. If not he would sit by as it burned to the ground, and then offer to buy the smoldering land for an even lower offer.

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