Pompey and Crassus

Pompey & Crassus

The 1st Triumvirate

Pompey

Crassus

Crassus got his reputation for himself as a soldier in Sulla's campaigns in Italy (83), but people started not liking him because of his greed. He purchased estates at knockdown prices during Sulla's proscriptions of his political opponents. Another source of his wealth was buying property at risk from fire very cheaply and only then putting his private fire brigade into action. His other sources of wealth were mines, and his business buying slaves, training them, and then re-selling them.

Sam M. and Cody T.

Crassus was one of the wealthiest men alive.

At the age of twenty-six Gnaeus Pmpeius is considered such a brilliant general that his own troops, after a campaign in Africa in 80 BC, called him Pompeius Magnus- Pompeius the Great.

His military reputation grows in 67 BC, he has a mission to rid the Mediterranean of the pirates that are terrorizing costal regions and ruining Rome's trade. The senate gives Pompey three years to complete it, he only takes three months. He annihilates the entire pirate fleet in a brilliantly panned operation by dividing the Mediterranean and Black Sea into thirteen regions, each with a commander, with this strategy he wipes up the pirates.

In 66 BC, his is to take charge of the Roman province. Phoenicia and Palestine are soon merged with it, and Jerusalem only falls to him after a three-month siege. Pompey establishes administrative systems, which will preserve peace in the coming years. He also brings new quantities of annual tax, and he provides a generous amount of money for his soldiers.

Late in 62 BC Pompey brings his victorious fleet and army into Brindisi. It is illegal for Roman generals to bring their armies on to Italian soil. The was an implicit understanding between the legionaries and their leader; he will use his influence to provide plots of land on which they can support themselves. For two years Pompey fails to fulfill this obligation, owing to political obstruction from opponents in Rome. The situation brings him into a natural alliance with two other powerful but frustrated men Crassus & Caesar.

(60-53 BC) Pompey, Ceasar, and Crassus band together to form the first triumvirate. To really “relate” all of them together, Pompey marries Caesar’s only child Julia. During the triumvirate they find land for the veterans, the business problems of Crassus are resolved. And Caesar is in charge of Cisalpine Gaul. While Caesar leaves to govern Cisalpine Gaul, Pompey and Crassus stay behind and further their own political interest. Pompey and Crassus has a desire to eventually govern Rome and to get the titles of Emperors. They are the most powerful men in the republic, and they will soon discover that Caesar is worth way more then just publicity for their politics.

Crassus was then given the command against Spartacus (71). Mummius engaged Spartacus in battle against Crassus' orders and was defeated. Out of Mummius' men, 500 were considered to cowards in battle, and so they were divided into groups of ten, and one from each group of ten was killed. Spartacus attempted to sail for Sicily, but the pirates he hired to take his forces over the sea cheated him and sailed off with the payment he'd given them, leaving Spartacus' forces still in Italy. Spartacus established a camp for his men in the peninsula of Rhegium, where Crassus built a wall across the peninsula, trapping them. However, taking advantage of a snowy night, Spartacus managed to get a third of his troops across the wall. Crassus had written to the Senate to ask for help, but now regretted it since whoever the Senate sent would get the credit for defeating Spartacus, and they sent Pompey. Crassus inflicted a crushing defeat on Spartacus' troops and Spartacus himself was killed in the battle. Crassus had 6000 recaptured slaves crucified along the Appian Way. Crassus was awarded an ovation -- a kind of lesser triumph for putting down the revolt, but Pompey was awarded a triumph for his victories in Spain.

Crassus saw Pompey as his great rival, but knew he could not match Pompey's military achievements. So, he set about winning popularity by acting as an advocate in lawsuits where other advocates refused to act and lending money without charging interest, provided the loan was paid back on time.