If historical writing has shifted attention from the privileged and powerful in recent years, hovering over the lives of outsiders and the disenfranchised, Crassus yanks that pendulum right from its socket.

His story poses both immediate and lasting questions about the intertwining of money, ambition, and power. Stothard’s little biography of Crassus offers glimpses into other great civilizations and peoples during the first century B. Provided a good understanding of the internal Roman politics leading up to the change from Republic to Empire. See our Remarkables Archive list for what is no longer in print, but which we are happy to track down.If he hadn’t owned the new mine he would certainly have had the mine’s owner in his debt: almost all the big players of the time, Julius Caesar most of all, owed money to Crassus. The metallic white powder that powers electric cars may finally bring the homegrown wealth to Rome that the ancient Romans liked to think was always there—but, curiously, never liked to look for. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

Romans saw the value of precious metals but also the danger of mining them—for pollution of mind and the land.Douglas Boin is Professor of History at Saint Louis University and the author of Alaric the Goth (W. Previous knowledge of the characters and the time period is definitely helpful as it is not a thorough biography (probably for the better). Without his catastrophic ambition, this trailblazing tycoon might have quietly entered history as Rome’s first modern political financier. Practic, avem la îndemână o sinteză foarte fină a izvoarelor istorice disponibile despre Crassus, Stothard cunoscând și înțelegând suficient perioada încât să-și poarte cititorii cu ușurință printre meandrele epocii Republicane târzii fără a-i plictisi sau rătăci pe aceștia.

After a string of horrible decisions, Crassus got outwitted by his counterpart who strung together 1000 camels to continuously resupply archers, something the Romans could not have conceived.In this short volume of 158 pages, Stothard gives just about enough background for those unversed in Roman history to follow the tale. One of the strengths of Stothard's writing is that he shows rather than tells: anecdote is preferred to adjectives. Marcus Licinius Crassus (115–53 BCE) was a modern man in an ancient world, a pioneer disrupter of finance and politics, and the richest man of the last years of the Roman republic. If you are looking for a quick read that will teach you something new about a largely forgotten man, then it is worthwhile.

This book aside from Allen Wards earlier work is the only one in English and while it is fairly good it is not nearly as thorough in its examination but it also assumes prior knowledge of the reader. Flashbacks paint a good picture about his early career, the internal politics in Rome and his rivalry with Pompey.Eighteen years after rising to the public’s attention for ending Spartacus’ revolt, Caesar’s one-time banker and Rome’s former head of state departed for the Tigris and Euphrates with mad imperialist designs of annexing Parthia to Rome. Crassus's vanity and a desire to achieve something on the battlefield worthy of being welcomed back to Rome with a Triumph -- not accorded to him for the defeat of Spartacus -- drives him to his death and many of his men in faraway Parthia. It moves quickly and feels jumpy at times but it is informative and tries to stick to the source material.