Daily Roman History:

A sore spot for Marcus Licinius Crassus, the richest man in the Empire, was he had no military accomplishments to point to, unlike his future Triumvirate colleague Pompey Magnus. He was given a chance during the Third Servile War in 73BC. This was an uprising of slaves on the Italian Peninsula numbering up to 120000 men, woman, and children led by the legendary Spartacus. After proving surprisingly effective against the legions Crassis was given command in 71BC. He was able to lead his troops to a routing of the slave army and effectively end the war. However, the fleeing slaves were captured or killed by an approaching army lead by Pompey. Pompey was able to spin this as while Crassus won the battle, Pompey ended the war and took most of the credit. Perhaps due to his anger at this Crassus ordered all 6000 surviving rebels to be crucified along the Appian way. Some years later Crassus got another opportunity to lead an army invading the Parthian Empire to the east. Unprepared for the harsh desert environment, and betrayed by guides this turned into a debacle where the Roman army was destroyed, the army standards lost, and allegedy Crassus himself was killed by having molten gold poured down his throat.

#history #rome