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130-682: In 57 BC they were subjugated by the Romans under forces led by Publius Licinius Crassus , the son of the triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus , but they provided men to the Gallic coalition led by Vercingetorix at the Battle of Alesia in 52. They are mentioned as R[h]edones by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), Rhedones ( var. r[h]iedones , s[hi]edones ) by Pliny (1st c. AD), Rhiḗdones (‛Ριήδονες; var. ‛Ρηήδονες), Rhḗdones (Ῥήδονες) and Rhēḯdones (Ῥηΐδονες) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), and as Redonas in

260-560: A desertion . It was one of the worst military disasters in Roman history. The civil war between Caesar and Pompeius is often said to have been made inevitable by the deaths of two people: Caesar's daughter Julia , whose political marriage to Pompeius surprised Roman social circles by its affection; and Marcus Crassus, whose political influence and wealth had been a counterweight to the two greater militarists. It would be idle to speculate on what role Publius Crassus might have played either in

390-484: A quaestor of him. Caesar's omission, however, supports the view that the young Crassus held no formal rank, as the Bellum Gallicum consistently identifies officers with regard to their place in the military chain of command . Publius is introduced in the narrative only as adulescens , "tantamount to a technical term for a young man not holding any formal post." The only other Roman Caesar calls adulescens

520-633: A "political animal" would have been congenial to the family political dynamism of the Licinii Crassi . The Peripatetics and Academics , according to Cicero, provided the best oratorical training; while the Academics drilled in rebuttal , he says, the Peripatetics excelled at rhetorical theory and also practiced debating both sides of an issue. The young Crassus must have thrived on this training, for Cicero praises his abilities as

650-556: A Roman male of the governing classes typically required a stint as a contubernalis (literally a "tentmate", a sort of military intern or apprentice) following the assumption of the toga virilis around the age of 15 and before assuming formal military duties. Publius, his brother Marcus, and Decimus Brutus may have been contubernales during Caesar's propraetorship in Spain (61–60 BC). Publius's father and grandfather had strong ties to Spain: his grandfather had earned his triumph from

780-472: A comparable number of light infantry . The Roman army vastly outnumbered the force they faced. Although the sandy, open desert landscape favored cavalry over infantry, the primary value of the Gallo-Roman cavalry was mobility , not force, being lightly armed and protected. By contrast, the one thousand heavily armored Parthian cataphracts rode barded horses and carried long heavy lances ( kontos ),

910-409: A fictionalized genealogy that presumed divine or legendary ancestors, a practice not uncommon among the Roman nobility. The elder Crassus, even as the son of a consul and censor , had himself grown up in a modestly kept and multigenerational house; the passage of sumptuary laws had been among his father's political achievements. In marrying the widow of his brother, who had been killed during

1040-500: A force consisting of twelve Roman legionary cohorts , allied Celtic cavalry and volunteers from Gallia Narbonensis . Ten cohorts is the standard complement of the Caesarian legion, and the twelve cohorts are not identified by any unit number. Caesar relates Publius's challenges and successes at some length and without any ambiguity about their military nature. Cassius Dio provides a synopsis, which does not accord in every detail with

1170-560: A horse to ride to the Parthian camp for a peace negotiation, his junior officer Octavius suspected a Parthian trap and grabbed Crassus' horse by the bridle, instigating a sudden fight with the Parthians that left all the Romans dead, including Crassus. A story later emerged that, after Crassus' death, the Parthians poured molten gold into his mouth to mock his thirst for wealth. Plutarch 's biography of Crassus also mentions that, during

1300-454: A later age than a Roman noble typically took a wife. The date of their betrothal goes unrecorded, but if Cornelia had long been the desired bride, she would have been too young to marry before Publius left for Gaul, and his worth as a husband may not have been as evident. The political value of the marriage for Publius lay in family ties to the so-called optimates , a continually realigning faction of conservative senators who sought to preserve

1430-399: A long march through hostile terrain, and reconnoiter . Marcus Crassus instead is inspired by the eagerness of Publius and his Celtic cavalry to do battle, and after a quick halt in ranks for refreshment, the army marches headlong into a Parthian trap. Marcus Crassus commanded seven legions, the strength of which has been estimated variously from 28,000 to 40,000, along with 4,000 cavalry and

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1560-487: A low price, and it was for this reason that he was forever hovering about the woman and paying his court to her, until he fell under the abominable suspicion. And, in a way, it was his avarice that absolved him from the charge of corrupting the vestal, and he was acquitted by the judges. But he did not let Licinia go until he had acquired her property." Despite his great wealth, Crassus is said to have avoided excess and luxury at home. Family meals were simple, and entertaining

1690-499: A military commander under Lucius Cornelius Sulla during his civil war . Following Sulla's assumption of the dictatorship , Crassus amassed an enormous fortune through property speculation. Crassus rose to political prominence following his victory over the slave revolt led by Spartacus , sharing the consulship with his rival Pompey the Great. A political and financial patron of Julius Caesar , Crassus joined Caesar and Pompey in

1820-609: A nearby friendly city while his troops held off the enemy. He refused: Publius, declaring that no death could have such terrors for him as to make him desert those who were perishing on his account, ordered them to save their own lives, bade them farewell, and dismissed them. Then he himself, being unable to use his hand, which had been pierced through with an arrow, presented his side to his shield-bearer and ordered him to strike home with his sword. The portrait of Publius in Parthia presented by Plutarch contrasts with Caesar's emphasis on

1950-553: A point of Crassus's attention to logistics and supply lines , which may have been a deficiency on the Armorican mission. Ultimately, Crassus was able to out-general experienced men who had trained in Roman military tactics with the gifted rebel Quintus Sertorius on the Spanish front of the civil wars in the late 80s and 70s BC. Publius Crassus returned to Rome in the fall of 56 BC, or as late as January 55 BC. He brought with him

2080-508: A point of contrasting the triumvir's family life. Despite his great wealth, Crassus is said to have avoided excess and luxury at home. Family meals were simple, and entertaining was generous but not ostentatious; Crassus chose his companions during leisure hours on the basis of personal friendship as well as political utility. Although the Crassi, as noble plebeians , would have displayed ancestral images in their atrium, they did not lay claim to

2210-451: A reference to Caesar's legendary genealogy , and on the reverse an unidentified female figure standing by a horse. The short-skirted equestrian holds the horse's bridle in her right hand, with a spear in her left. A cuirass and shield appear in the background at her feet. She may be an allegorical representation of Gallia , to commemorate Crassus's military achievements in Gaul and to honor

2340-532: A renewed threat from Germanic tribes from across the Rhine and launched his first invasion of Britannia . Despite opposition to the war, Marcus Crassus was criticized for doing little to advance the invasion during the first year of his proconsulship. Upon entering winter quarters, he spent his time on the 1st-century BC equivalent of number-crunching and wealth management, rather than organizing his troops and engaging in diplomatic efforts to gain allies. Only after

2470-405: A segment of his army fled from battle, abandoning their weapons, Crassus revived the ancient practice of decimation – i.e. executing one out of every ten men, with the victims selected by drawing lots. Plutarch reports that "many things horrible and dreadful to see" occurred during the infliction of punishment, which was witnessed by the rest of Crassus' army. Nevertheless, according to Appian ,

2600-415: A series of bad omens, and the elder Crassus was frequently at odds with his quaestor, Cassius Longinus , the future assassin of Caesar. Cassius's strategic sense is presented by Plutarch as superior to that of his commander. Little is said of any contribution by Publius Crassus until a critical juncture at the river Balissus (Balikh) , where most of the officers thought the army ought to make camp, rest after

2730-506: A speaker and in the Brutus places him in the company of gifted young orators whose lives ended before they could fulfill their potential: He had been extremely well educated, and was perfectly well versed in every branch of polite literature: he had likewise a penetrating genius, and an elegant variety of expression; and appeared grave and sententious without arrogance, and modest and diffident without dejection. The secondary education of

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2860-403: A speech to the assembly that he should be no less grateful to them for the colleague than for the office which he desired." However, in office, they did not remain friendly. They "differed on almost every measure, and by their contentiousness, rendered their consulship barren politically and without achievement." Crassus displayed his wealth by realizing public sacrifices to Hercules, entertaining

2990-471: A stronghold of the Sotiates; upon surrender, he showed clemency, a quality on which Caesar prided himself, toward the enemy commander Adcantuannus. Crassus solicited opinions from his officers at a war council and achieved consensus on a plan of action. He gathered intelligence and demonstrated his foresight and strategic thinking, employing tactics of stealth, surprise, and deception. Caesar further makes

3120-535: A subject of debate. Although he held commands, Publius was neither an elected military tribune nor legatus appointed by the senate , though the Greek historian Cassius Dio contributes to the confusion by applying Greek terminology (ὑπεστρατήγει, hupestratêgei ) to Publius that usually translates the rank expressed in Latin by legatus . Those who have argued that Publius was the elder son have attempted to make

3250-523: A thousand troops from Gaul, the presence of which had a noticeable effect on the consular elections for the coming year. Street violence was increasingly an instrument of political pressure, culminating three years later in the public murder of the popularist aristocrat Publius Clodius Pulcher . Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Crassus were eventually elected to their second joint consulship for the year of 55 BC. Several steps were taken during this time to advance Publius's career. Publius Crassus served as one of

3380-576: A treaty violated its terms, in which case the subjecting of hostages to punitive actions such as torture or execution was not regarded as violating the ius gentium . If the Armoricans believed themselves to hold the four Romans as hostages in the sense of congestloi , it is unclear what negotiations Publius Crassus had undertaken. "Caesar liked energy and enterprise in young aristocrats," Syme remarked, "a predilection not always attended with happy results." Caesar reacted with military force. In writing

3510-581: A volunteer, nothing could satisfy him but to try his fortune as a general, — an employment which was confined by the wisdom of our ancestors to men who had arrived at a certain age, and who, even then, were obliged to submit their pretensions to the uncertain issue of a public decision. Thus, by exposing himself to a fatal catastrophe, while he was endeavouring to rival the fame of Cyrus and Alexander , who lived to finish their desperate career, he lost all resemblance of L. Crassus , and his other worthy progenitors . Publius presumably helped with preparations for

3640-533: Is Decimus Brutus , who also makes his first appearance in history in the Bellum Gallicum . In the third year of the war, Caesar refers to Publius as dux , a non-technical term of military leadership that he uses elsewhere only in reference to Celtic generals. The informality of the phrase is enhanced by a descriptive adulescentulus ; in context, Publius is said to be with his men as an adulescentulo duce , their "very young" or "under-age leader." In

3770-635: Is noted as evidence of Crassus's parsimony, it has been suggested that in failing to enrich himself at Crassus's expense Alexander asserted a positive philosophical stance disregarding material possessions. The Peripatetics of the time differed little from the Old Academy represented by Antiochus of Ascalon , who placed emphasis on knowledge as the supreme value and on the Aristotelian conception of human beings as by nature political (a zōon politikon , "creature of politics"). This view of man as

3900-643: Is said to have made part of his money from proscriptions, notably the proscription of one man whose name was not initially on the list of those proscribed but was added by Crassus, who coveted the man's fortune. Crassus' wealth is estimated by Pliny at approximately 200 million sesterces. Plutarch, in his Life of Crassus , says the wealth of Crassus increased from less than 300 talents at first, to 7,100 talents. This represented 229 tonnes of silver, worth about US$ 167.4 million at August 2023 silver prices, accounted right before his Parthian expedition, most of which Plutarch declares Crassus got "by fire and war, making

4030-485: Is the first Roman named as a cavalry commander in the war, and was perhaps given the task of restructuring. After several days of Roman provocation that produced only skirmishes, the Suebi responded with a sudden attack that preempted standard Roman tactics ; Caesar says that the army was unable to release a volley of javelins ( pila ), which ordinarily would have been preceded by a cavalry skirmish. Instead, Crassus and

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4160-468: Is unclear whether his trip, probably to visit Byzantium or Galatia , was connected to Crassus's own intentions in the East. The triumviral negotiations at Ravenna and Luca had resulted in the prolongment of Caesar's Gallic command and the granting of an extended five-year proconsular province for each of the consuls of 55 BC. The Spanish provinces went to Pompeius; Crassus arranged to have Syria , with

4290-615: The Notitia Dignitatum (5th c. AD). Their chief town is also attested on inscriptions as civ]itas Ried[onum and [civ]itas Ried[onum] . The Gaulish ethnonym Rēdones means 'chariot-drivers' or 'horse-riders'. It stems from the Celtic root rēd- ('to ride, esp. a horse or horse-led chariot'; cf. Gallo-Lat. rēda 'chariot', OIr. ríad 'riding, driving, journey'; also Gallo-Lat. paraue-redus 'work-horse' and ue-rēdus 'post horse', MW. gorwydd 'horse') attached to

4420-665: The gens Licinia , an old and highly respected plebeian family in Rome. He was the second of three sons born to the eminent senator and vir triumphalis Publius Licinius Crassus (consul 95 BC, censor 89 BC). This line was not descended from the wealthy Crassi Divites, although often assumed to be. The eldest brother, Publius (born c.  116 BC ), died shortly before the Italic War , and Crassus' father and younger brother were either slain or took their own lives in Rome, in winter 87–86 BC, when being hunted down by

4550-503: The Aedui and from the Gallic nations of Gallia Transalpina , already a Roman province . In Caesar's army, the primary strategic applications of cavalry were reconnaissance and intelligence gathering , conducted by detachments of exploratores ("scouts") and speculatores ("spies"); communications ; patrols , including advance parties and guard units on the flanks of the army on

4680-455: The Battle of Carrhae and death in its aftermath. Crassus' death permanently unraveled the alliance between Caesar and Pompey, since his political influence and wealth had been a counterbalance to the two greater militarists. Within four years of Crassus' death, Caesar crossed the Rubicon and began a civil war against Pompey and the optimates . Marcus Licinius Crassus was a member of

4810-556: The Bellum Gallicum focuses on Sulpicius Galba ’s travails in the Alps , and campaigns led by the two junior officers Publius Crassus and Decimus Brutus. According to Caesar, the young Crassus, facing a shortage of rations, at some unspecified time sent out detachments to procure grain under the command of prefects and military tribunes, among them four named officers of equestrian status who are seized as hostages by three Gallic polities in collusion. The four are T. Terrasidius , held by

4940-466: The Bellum Gallicum , Caesar often elides legal and administrative arrangements in favor of military narrative. The situation faced by Publius Crassus in Brittany involved both the prosaic matter of logistics (i.e., feeding the legion under his command) as well as diplomacy among multiple polities, much of which had to be conducted on initiative during Caesar's absence. The building of a Roman fleet on

5070-486: The Euphrates in an attempt to conquer Parthia . Crassus attacked Parthia not only because of its great source of riches, but because of a desire to match the military victories of Pompey and Caesar. The king of Armenia , Artavasdes II , offered Crassus the aid of nearly 40,000 troops (10,000 cataphracts and 30,000 infantrymen) on the condition that Crassus invade through Armenia so that the king could not only maintain

5200-632: The Jewish Temple treasury. In 55 BC, after the Triumvirate met at the Luca Conference in 56 BC, Crassus was again consul with Pompey, and a law was passed assigning the provinces of the two Hispanias and Syria to Pompey and Crassus, respectively, for five years. Crassus received Syria as his province, which promised to be an inexhaustible source of wealth. It might have been, had he not also sought military glory and crossed

5330-470: The Roman province of Africa and joined Metellus Pius , one of Sulla's closest allies, but did not stay there for long because of disagreements with Metellus. He sailed his army to Greece and joined Sulla , "with whom he stood in a position of special honor." During Sulla's civil war , Crassus and Pompey fought a battle in the plain of Spoletium ( Spoleto ), killed about 3,000 of the men of Papirius Carbo ,

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5460-640: The Seine River and the Loire, all of whom submitted. ( B. G. ii. 34.) Caesar here enumerates the Redones among the maritime states whose territory extends to the Atlantic Ocean . In 52 BC the Redones with their neighbors sent a contingent to attack Caesar during the siege of Alesia . In this passage also ( B. G. vii. 75), the Redones are enumerated among the states bordering on the ocean, which in

5590-462: The Sullan civil wars , Marcus Crassus observed an ancient Roman custom that had become old-fashioned in his own time. Publius, unlike many of his peers, had parents who remained married for nearly 35 years, until the elder Crassus's death; by contrast, Pompeius Magnus married five times and Julius Caesar at least three. Crassus remained married to Tertulla "despite attacks on her reputation." It

5720-532: The Via Appia by Crassus' orders. At his command, their bodies were not taken down afterwards, but remained rotting along Rome's principal route to the south. This was intended as an object lesson to anyone especially slaves who might think of rebelling against Roman citizens and slave-owners. Crassus effectively ended the Third Servile War in 71 BC. In Plutarch's account, Crassus "had written to

5850-521: The battle of the Silarius river , Crassus gained a decisive victory, and captured six thousand slaves alive. During the fighting, Spartacus attempted to personally kill Crassus, slaughtering his way toward the general's position, but he succeeded only in killing two of the centurions guarding Crassus. Spartacus himself is believed to have been killed in the battle, although his body was never recovered. The six thousand captured slaves were crucified along

5980-655: The diocese of Angers ( Anjou ) in the French department Maine-et-Loire . Although Caesar locates the Andes "near the Atlantic," they held no coast and were located inland along the Loire river. Caesar is compelled to modify his assessment of the situation when he writes his account of the third year of the war, in which he himself plays a diminished role and which is markedly shorter than his other six books. Instead, Book 3 of

6110-582: The front from his administrative winter quarters in Ravenna , where he had met with Publius's father for political deal-making prior to the more famous triumviral conference at Luca in April. Caesar makes haste, and in the summer of 56 BC, the campaign against the Veneti and their allies is conducted by Decimus Brutus as a naval operation. Caesar gives no explanation for why he transferred Crassus from command on

6240-420: The monetales, or moneyers , authorized to issue coinage, most likely in the year of his father's consulship. In the late Republic, this office was a regular preliminary to the political career track for senators’ sons, to be followed by a run for quaestor when the age requirement of 30 was met. Common among the surviving coins issued by Publius Crassus is a denarius depicting a bust of Venus , perhaps

6370-425: The Armorican front and sends him to Aquitania. The Romans are eventually victorious, but the fate of the hostages is left unstated, and in a break with his policy in working with the Gallic aristocracy over the previous two years, Caesar orders the execution of the entire Venetian senate. While naval operations were taking place in the waters of the Veneti, Publius Crassus was sent south to Aquitania , this time with

6500-569: The Celtic congestlos (in Gaulish ). For both Romans and Celts, the handing over of hostages was often a formally negotiated term in a treaty; among the Celts, however, hostages were also exchanged as a pledge of mutual alliance with no loss of status, a practice that should be placed in the context of other Celtic social institutions such as fosterage and political alliance through marriage. Among

6630-475: The Celtic and Germanic peoples, hostage arrangements seem to have been a more mutually effective form of diplomatic pressure than was the always-onesided taking of hostages by the Romans. A concept of international law , expressed in Latin by the phrase ius gentium , existed by custom and consensus, and not in any written code or sworn treaty . By custom, the safety of hostages was guaranteed unless parties to

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6760-603: The Celtic language were called the Armoric States . D'Anville supposes that their territory extended beyond the limits of the diocese of Rennes into the dioceses of St. Malo and Dol-de-Bretagne . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William , ed. (1854–1857). " Redones ". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . London: John Murray. Publius Licinius Crassus (son of triumvir) Publius Licinius Crassus (86 or 82 – 53 BC)

6890-629: The Esubii; M. Trebius Gallus, by the Coriosolites; and Q. Velanius and T. Silius, both by the Veneti. Whether the Gauls and the Romans understood each other's laws and customs pertaining to hostage-taking is at issue here as elsewhere in the course of the war, and the actions of Publius Crassus are difficult to reconstruct. The Latin word for hostage, obses (plural obsides ), may translate but not necessarily correspond in legal application with

7020-487: The Parthians were weak and unorganized. He then led Crassus' army into desert, far from any water. In 53   BC, at the Battle of Carrhae (modern Harran , in Turkey), Crassus' legions were defeated by a numerically inferior Parthian force. Crassus' legions were primarily heavy infantry, and not prepared for an attack by swift mounted archers, a tactic which Parthian troops had mastered. The Parthian horse archers devastated

7150-500: The Redones'; Redonas in 400–441; Rennes in 1294) is named after the Gallic tribe. They lived on the peninsula of Brittany in the region which was known at the time as Armorica . Although they controlled a narrow coastline in the southern part of the Mont-Saint-Michel Bay , they did not have a direct opening to maritime trade. Caesar mentions them among the civitates maritimae or Aremoricae . Their territory

7280-455: The Romans until dusk. Despite taking severe casualties, the Romans successfully retreated to Carrhae, forced to leave many wounded behind to be slaughtered by the Parthians. Subsequently, Crassus' men, being near mutiny , demanded he parley with the Parthians, who had offered to meet with him. Crassus, despondent at the death of his son Publius in the battle, finally agreed to meet the Parthian general Surena . However, when Crassus mounted

7410-502: The Senate that they must summon Lucullus from Thrace and Pompey from Spain, but he was sorry now that he had done so, and was eager to bring the war to an end before those generals came. He knew that the success would be ascribed to the one who came up with assistance, and not to himself." He decided to attack a splinter group of rebels, and after this, Spartacus withdrew to the mountains. Pompey had arrived from Hispania with his veterans and

7540-480: The account of Caesar: About the same time Publius Crassus, the son of Marcus Crassus, subjugated nearly all of Aquitania. … Crassus conquered the Sotiates in battle and captured them by siege. He lost a few men, to be sure, by treachery in the course of a parley , but punished the enemy severely for this. On seeing some others who had banded together along with soldiers of Sertorius from Spain and were carrying on

7670-447: The adjacent ones "because their owners would let go at a trifling price." He bought "the largest part of Rome" in this way, buying them on the cheap and rebuilding them with slave labor. The first ever Roman fire brigade was created by Crassus. Fires were almost a daily occurrence in Rome, and Crassus took advantage of the fact that Rome had no fire department, by creating his own brigade—500 men strong—which rushed to burning buildings at

7800-438: The army, then retreated. Publius pursued. When his force was out of visual and communication range of the main army, the Parthians halted, and Publius found himself in an ambush, with his force rapidly encircled. A military historian describes the scene: They soon glimpsed the enemy horsemen only as fleeting shapes through an almost impenetrable curtain of sand and dust thrown up by their myriad hooves, while arrows whistled out of

7930-454: The arrival of Publius Crassus did he launch the war, and even that beginning was ill-omened. After an inventory of the treasury at the Temple of Atargatis , Hierapolis , Publius stumbled at the gate and his father tripped over him. The reporting of this portent, fictional or not, suggests "that Publius was seen as the true cause of the disaster." The military advance was likewise attended by

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8060-483: The augural college by Publius's death two years later was filled by Cicero. During his time in Rome, Publius married the lavishly praised and highly educated Cornelia, who was probably around sixteen or seventeen. As the daughter of Metellus Scipio , she was "the heiress of the last surviving branch of the Scipiones ." Publius would have been in his late twenties. His military service abroad had postponed marriage to

8190-399: The auxiliaries seem to have remained on the periphery of action. Caesar gives Crassus credit for accurately assessing the status of the battle from his superior vantage point and for ordering in the third line of infantry at the critical moment. Initiative is implied. After the Suebi were routed , the horsemen pursued those who escaped, but failed to capture Ariovistus. The second year of

8320-460: The barbarians rushed out and repelled him vigorously; but while their main force was there, he sent some men around to the other side of their camp, got possession of this, which was destitute of men, and passing through it took the fighters in the rear. In this way they were all annihilated, and the rest with the exception of a few made terms without any contest. Caesar regards the victories of Publius Crassus as impressive for several reasons. Crassus

8450-418: The civil war or during Caesar's resulting dictatorship . In many ways, his career follows a course similar to the early life of Decimus Brutus, whose role in the assassination of Caesar was far from foreseeable. Elizabeth Rawson concludes: Publius was one of the several brilliant and promising young men of the period of the dying Republic whose careers were in one way or another cut short. But his influence on

8580-410: The consulship. Crassus had been praetor as the law of Sulla required. Pompey had been neither praetor nor quaestor, and was only 34 years old, but he had promised the plebeian tribunes to restore much of their power, that had been taken away by Sulla's constitutional reforms. Even when they were both chosen consuls, they did not dismiss their armies stationed near the city. Pompey said that he was awaiting

8710-525: The elder Crassus was more conservative than some have thought. In a letter from February 55 BC, Cicero mentions the presence of Publius Crassus at a meeting held at his father's house. During these political negotiations, it was agreed that Cicero would not oppose a legatio , or state-sponsored junket , to the East by his longtime enemy Clodius Pulcher , in exchange for Marcus Crassus supporting an unidentified favor sought by Cicero. Although Clodius has sometimes been regarded as an agent or ally of Crassus, it

8840-404: The elections for 55 BC and his ties to Caesar, he admired and was loyal to Cicero and played a mediating role between Cicero and the elder Crassus, who was often at odds with the outspoken orator. In his friendship with Cicero, Publius showed a degree of political independence. Cicero seems to have hoped that he could steer the talented young man away from a popularist and militarist path toward

8970-503: The enemy's center, and used the news of Crassus' success to stiffen the resolve of his own troops. By the following morning, the battle was over, and the Sullan army emerged victorious, making Sulla the master of Rome. Sulla's victory, and Crassus' contribution to it, put Crassus in a key position. Sulla was as loyal to his allies as he was cruel towards his enemies, and Crassus had been a very loyal ally. Marcus Licinius Crassus' next concern

9100-523: The events of his time was very great, though perhaps wholly disastrous. Marcus Licinius Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus ( / ˈ k r æ s ə s / ; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire . He is often called "the richest man in Rome". Crassus began his public career as

9230-451: The example of his consular grandfather, whose political career was traditional and moderate, or toward modeling himself after the orator Licinius Crassus about whom Cicero so often wrote. Cicero almost always speaks of young Crassus with approval and affection, criticizing only his impatient ambition. Publius Crassus enters the historical record as an officer under Caesar in Gaul. His military rank , which Caesar never identifies, has been

9360-455: The feasting and revelry in the wedding ceremony of Artavasdes' sister to the Parthian king Orodes II 's son and heir Pacorus in the Armenian capital of Artashat , Crassus' head was brought to Orodes II. Both kings were enjoying a performance of Euripides ' tragedy The Bacchae when an actor of the royal court, named Jason of Tralles, took the head and sang these verses: We bring from

9490-427: The first cry of alarm. Upon arriving at the scene, however, the firefighters did nothing while Crassus offered to buy the burning building from the distressed property owner, at a miserable price. If the owner agreed to sell the property, his men would put out the fire; if the owner refused, then they would simply let the structure burn to the ground. After buying many properties this way, he rebuilt them, and often leased

9620-659: The first year of the Gallic Wars , Caesar and his Celtic Aeduan allies fought a defensive campaign against the Celtic Helvetii , and waged an offensive against the Germanic Suebi and their allies, led by Ariovistus . During the decisive battle against the Suebi that brought the first year of fighting to its conclusion, Publius Crassus was given command of the cavalry . In 58 BC, Caesar's cavalry auxiliaries numbered 4,000, comprising regiments from

9750-413: The fortunes of wealthy adherents to Gaius Marius or Lucius Cornelius Cinna . Proscriptions meant that their political enemies lost their fortunes and their lives; that their female relatives (notably, widows and widowed daughters) were forbidden to marry, remarry or remain married; and that, in some cases, their families' hopes of rebuilding their fortunes and political significance were destroyed. Crassus

9880-454: The gloom and pierced shields, mail, flesh and bone. With casualties mounting, Publius decided that a charge was his only option, but most of his men, riddled with arrows, could not respond to the call. Only the Gallic cavalry followed their young leader. The cataphracts returned the effort with a counter charge in which they held the distinct advantage in number and equipment. The weaker, shorter Gallic spears would have had limited effect against

10010-413: The heavy encasing armor of the cataphracts. But when the two forces closed, the lighter armor that left the Gauls more vulnerable also made them more agile. They grabbed hold of the Parthian lances and grappled to unseat the enemy horsemen. Other Gauls, unhorsed or choosing to dismount, stabbed the Parthian horses in the belly — a tactic that had been employed against Caesar's cavalry by outnumbered Germans

10140-639: The historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus . Publius Crassus served under Julius Caesar in Gaul from 58 to 56 BC. Too young to receive a formal commission from the senate , Publius distinguished himself as a commanding officer in campaigns among the Armorican nations ( Brittany ) and in Aquitania . He was highly regarded by Caesar and also by Cicero , who praised his speaking ability and good character. Upon his return to Rome , Publius married Cornelia Metella ,

10270-474: The intellectually gifted daughter of Metellus Scipio , and began his active political career as a triumvir monetalis and by providing a security force during his father's campaign for a second consulship . Publius's promising career was cut short when he died along with his father in an ill-conceived war against the Parthian Empire . Cornelia, with whom he probably had no children, then married

10400-642: The leader of the Marian forces, and besieged Carrinas , a Marian commander. During the decisive Battle of the Colline Gate , Crassus commanded the right flank of Sulla's army. After almost a day of fighting, the battle was going poorly for Sulla; his own center was being pushed back and was on the verge of collapse when he got word from Crassus that he had comprehensively crushed the enemy before him. Crassus wanted to know whether Sulla needed assistance, or whether his men could retire. Sulla told him to advance on

10530-444: The legionaries into a defensive square, the shield-wall of which afforded some protection but within which they could accomplish nothing and risked being surrounded. To prevent encirclement, or perhaps in a desperate attempt at diversion, Publius Crassus led out a corps of 1,300 cavalry, primarily his loyal Celtic troopers; 500 archers; and 4,000 elite infantry. The Parthian wing on his side, appearing to abandon their attempt to surround

10660-491: The march; skirmishing , and securing the territory after fighting by preventing the flight of surviving enemy. The cavalry charge was infrequent. In the opening stage of the war against the Helvetii , Caesar had retained a Gallic command structure ; a lack of strategic coordination, exacerbated by conflicting loyalties, led to poor performance, which Caesar sought to correct with a more centralized command. Publius Crassus

10790-521: The minor triumph on foot, called the ovation," nor did he wish to be honored for subduing slaves. In Plutarch's account, Pompey was asked to stand for the consulship. Crassus wanted to become his colleague and asked Pompey for his assistance. As said in the Life of Crassus , "Pompey received his request gladly (for he was desirous of having Crassus, in some way or other, always in debt to him for some favor), eagerly promoted his candidature, and finally said in

10920-444: The mountain A tendril fresh-cut to the palace A wonderful prey. Crassus' head was thus used instead of a prop to represent Pentheus and carried by of Agave . Also according to Plutarch, Crassus was mocked by dressing up a Roman prisoner, Caius Paccianus, who resembled him, in women's clothing, calling him "Crassus" and " imperator ", and leading him in a spectacular show of a final, satirical "triumphal procession", ridiculing

11050-503: The much older Pompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great"). Scholarly opinion is divided as to whether Publius or his brother Marcus was the elder, but with Roman naming conventions , the eldest son almost always carries on his father's name, including the praenomen , or first name, while younger sons are named for a grandfather or uncle. The achievements of Publius, named after his grandfather (consul in 97 BC) and uncle, eclipse those of his brother to such an extent that some have questioned

11180-428: The night of a heavy snowstorm, they sneaked through Crassus' lines and made a bridge of dirt and tree branches over the ditch, thus escaping. Some time later, when the Roman armies led by Pompey and Varro Lucullus were recalled to Italy in support of Crassus, Spartacus decided to fight rather than find himself and his followers trapped between three armies, two of them returning from overseas action. In this last battle,

11310-464: The populace at 10,000 tables and distributing sufficient grain to last each family three months, an act that had the additional ends of performing a previously made religious vow of a tithe to the demigod Hercules and also to gain support among the members of the popular party. In Appian's account, when Crassus ended the rebellion, there was a contention over honors between him and Pompey. Neither men dismissed their armies, with both being candidates for

11440-425: The previous year in Gaul. Eventually, however, the Gauls are forced to retreat, carrying away their wounded leader to a nearby sand dune, where the surviving Roman forces regroup. They drive their horses into the center, then lock shields to form a perimeter. But because of the slope, the men were exposed in tiers to the ceaseless volleys of arrows. Two Greeks who knew the region tried to persuade Publius to escape to

11570-495: The priest of Jupiter, or flamen dialis , but had been deprived of office by Sulla. Crassus also supported Caesar's efforts to win command of military campaigns. Caesar's mediation between Crassus and Pompey led to the creation of the First Triumvirate in 60 BC, consisting of Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar (who became consul in 59 BC). This coalition would last until Crassus' death. In 54 BC, Crassus looted

11700-487: The properties to their original owners or new tenants. Crassus befriended Licinia , a Vestal Virgin , whose valuable property he coveted. Plutarch says "And yet, when he was further on in years, he was accused of criminal intimacy with Licinia, one of the vestal virgins, and Licinia was formally prosecuted by a certain Plotius. Now, Licinia was the owner of a pleasant villa in the suburbs, which Crassus wished to get at

11830-516: The public calamities his greatest source of revenue." Some of Crassus' wealth was acquired conventionally, through slave trafficking, production from silver mines, and speculative real estate purchases. Crassus bought property that was confiscated in proscriptions and by notoriously purchasing burnt and collapsed buildings. Plutarch wrote that, observing how frequent such occurrences were, he bought slaves "who were architects and builders." When he had over 500 slaves, he bought houses that had burnt and

11960-529: The reach and power of which exceeded the Gallic spear, while the 9,000 Parthian mounted archers were equipped with a compound bow far superior to that used in Europe, with arrows continually replenished by foot soldiers from a camel train. The reputation of the legionaries for excellence in combat at close quarters had been anticipated by the Parthian general Surena , and answered with heavy cavalry and long-range weaponry. Marcus Crassus responded by drawing

12090-468: The return of Metellus for his Spanish triumph; Crassus said that Pompey ought to dismiss his army first. In the end, Crassus yielded first, offering Pompey his hand. In 65 BC, Crassus was elected censor with another conservative, Quintus Lutatius Catulus Capitolinus , himself son of a consul. During that decade, Crassus was Julius Caesar's patron in all but name, financing Caesar's successful election to become pontifex maximus . Caesar had formerly been

12220-496: The river Loire during the winter of 57–56 BC has been interpreted by several modern scholars as preparation for an invasion of Britain , to which the Armoricans would have objected as a threat to their own trade relations with the island. Caesar, at any rate, is most expansive about the exciting naval battle that ensues from the crisis. When he received reports of the hostage situation in Armorica, Caesar had not yet returned to

12350-587: The same period of time, he had sent Publius Crassus with one legion against the Veneti , Venelli , Osismi , Coriosolites , Esuvii , Aulerci , and Redones , which are maritime nations that border on the Ocean . Crassus reported that all these nations had been brought into the control and power of the Roman people. Crassus and the 7th then winter among the Andes , a Gallic polity whose territory corresponds roughly with

12480-490: The same province of Hispania Ulterior , and after the civil war of 87 BC his father had found refuge among friends there, avoiding the fate of Publius's uncle and grandfather. Caesar's field commission of Publius in Gaul indicates a high level of confidence, perhaps because he had trained the young man himself and knew his abilities. Little else is known about Publius's philosophical predispositions or political sympathies. Despite his active support on behalf of his father in

12610-457: The stronghold of the Aduatuci . Scholars have rarely tried to interpret Caesar's decision to send a young, relatively inexperienced officer with a single legion to secure a major geographical region inhabited by multiple civitates , while the commander-in-chief himself lay siege to a single town with the remaining seven legions of his army and a full staff of senior legates and some or most of

12740-481: The suffix - ones . The original Rēdones led to a form Riedones after diphthongisation . Following the discovery of inscriptions featuring this variant in the 1960s, some historians, including Anne-Marie Rouanet-Liesenfelt and Louis Pape, have argued that the form Riedones should be preferred over Redones in scholarship, which is not necessary according to linguist Pierre-Yves Lambert . The city of Rennes , attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Redonum (' civitas of

12870-573: The supporters of Gaius Marius , following their victory in the Bellum Octavianum . Crassus had the unusual distinction of marrying his wife Tertulla after she had been widowed by his brother. There were three main branches of the house of the Licinii Crassi in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, and many mistakes in identifications and lines have arisen owing to the uniformity of Roman nomenclature, erroneous modern suppositions, and

13000-617: The third line of Licinii Crassi of the period, the most famous of whom was Lucius Licinius Crassus , the greatest Roman orator before Cicero and the latter's childhood hero and model. Marcus Crassus was also a talented orator and one of the most energetic and active advocates of his time. After the Marian purges and the subsequent sudden death of Gaius Marius , the surviving consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna (father-in-law of Julius Caesar ) imposed proscriptions on those surviving Roman senators and equestrians who had supported Lucius Cornelius Sulla in his 88 BC march on Rome and overthrow of

13130-495: The thousand Gallic cavalry who were deployed with him for Syria . Publius received an additional boost to his career when he was co-opted into the college of augurs , replacing the late Lucius Licinius Lucullus , a staunch conservative in politics. Although the augurs held no direct political power, their right to withhold religious ratification could amount to a veto . It was a prestigious appointment that indicates great expectations for Publius's future. The vacancy left in

13260-567: The thousand-strong force he used to pressure elections in January 55 BC were these same men, as the employment of barbarians within Rome should have been viewed as outrageous enough to provoke comment. Publius's activities in 54 BC are unrecorded, but he and his Celtic cavalry troopers did not join his father in Syria until the winter of 54–53 BC, a year after the elder Crassus's departure. His horsemen may have been needed in Gaul as Caesar dealt with

13390-450: The tip of a lance in front of the Roman camp. Taunts are hurled at his father for his son's greater courage. Plutarch suggests that Marcus Crassus was unable to recover from this psychological blow, and the military situation deteriorated rapidly as a result of his failing leadership. Most of the Roman army was killed or enslaved, except for about 10,000 led by or eventually reunited with Cassius, whose escape has sometimes been characterized as

13520-462: The traditional birth order . Both Ronald Syme and Elizabeth Rawson , however, have argued vigorously for a family dynamic that casts Marcus as the older but Publius as the more talented younger brother. Publius grew up in a traditional household that was characterized by Plutarch in his Life of Crassus as stable and orderly. The biographer is often harshly critical of the elder Crassus's shortcomings, particularly moralizing his greed, but makes

13650-479: The traditional Roman political arrangements. Cinna's proscription forced Crassus to flee to Hispania . He stayed in Spain from 87 to 84 BC. Here, he recruited 2,500 men (an understrength legion) from his father's clients settled in the area. Crassus used his army to extort money from the local cities to pay for his campaigns, even being accused of sacking Malaca. After Cinna's death in 84 BC, Crassus went to

13780-470: The traditional prerogatives of the aristocratic oligarchy and to prevent exceptional individuals from dominating through direct appeal to the people or the amassing of military power. Publius's brother had been married to a daughter of Metellus Creticus (consul 69 BC), probably around 63–62 BC; both matches signal their father's desire for rapprochement with the optimates, despite his working arrangements with Caesar and Pompeius, an indication that perhaps

13910-531: The transparent intention of launching a war against Parthia . Some Romans opposed the war. Cicero calls it a war nulla causa ("with no justification"), on the grounds that Parthia had a treaty with Rome. Others may have objected less to a war with Parthia than to the attempt of the triumvirate to amass power by waging it. Despite objections and a host of bad omens, Marcus Crassus set sail from Brundisium in November 55 BC. The notoriously wealthy Marcus Crassus

14040-536: The tribunes. Crassus's Armorican mission is reported so elliptically that Caesar's chronology and veracity have been questioned, most pointedly by the contrarian scholar Michel Rambaud, who insisted that the 7th Legion must have detached for its mission prior to the Battle of the Sabis. Crassus is credited with bringing several polities or "nations" under treaty , but Caesar says nothing about military operations: During

14170-583: The troops' fighting spirit improved dramatically thereafter, since Crassus had demonstrated that "he was more dangerous to them than the enemy." Afterwards, when Spartacus retreated to the Bruttium peninsula in the southwest of Italy, Crassus tried to pen up the slave armies by building a ditch and a rampart across the peninsula of Rhegium in Bruttium, "from sea to sea." Despite this remarkable feat, Spartacus and part of his army still managed to break out. On

14300-622: The unevenness of information across the generations. In addition, the Dives cognomen of the Crassi Divites means rich or wealthy, and since Marcus Crassus, the subject here, was renowned for his enormous wealth, this has contributed to hasty assumptions that his family belonged to the Divites. But no ancient source accords him or his father the Dives cognomen; Plutarch says his great wealth

14430-418: The unofficial political alliance known as the First Triumvirate . Together, the three men dominated the Roman political system, but the alliance did not last long, due to the ambitions, egos, and jealousies of the three men. While Caesar and Crassus were lifelong allies, Crassus and Pompey disliked each other and Pompey grew increasingly envious of Caesar's spectacular successes in the Gallic Wars . The alliance

14560-436: The unprepared Romans with hit-and-run tactics, feigning retreats as they shot to their rear. Crassus refused his quaestor Gaius Cassius Longinus ' plans to reconstitute the Roman battle line, and remained in the testudo formation to protect his flanks until the Parthians eventually ran out of arrows. However, the Parthians brought camels carrying arrows to continuously resupply their archers, letting them relentlessly barrage

14690-621: The upkeep of his own troops but also provide a safer route for his men and Crassus. Crassus refused, and chose the more direct route by crossing the Euphrates, as he had done in his successful campaign in the previous year. Crassus received directions from the Osroene chieftain Ariamnes, who had previously assisted Pompey in his eastern campaigns. Ariamnes was in the pay of the Parthians and urged Crassus to attack at once, falsely stating that

14820-597: The war was conducted in northern Gaul among the Belgic nations . In the penultimate chapter of his book on that year's campaigns, Caesar abruptly reveals that he had placed Publius Crassus in command of the 7th Legion , which had suffered heavy casualties against the Nervii at the recent Battle of the Sabis ; Publius's role in this battle goes unremarked. Caesar says that in the aftermath he sent Crassus west to Armorica ( Brittany ) while he himself headed east to lay siege to

14950-426: The war was meant to provide an arena for Publius's abilities as a general, which he had begun to demonstrate so vividly in Gaul. Cicero implies as much when he enumerates Publius's many fine qualities (see above ) and then mourns and criticizes his young friend's destructive desire for gloria : But like many other young men he was carried away by the tide of ambition; and after serving a short time with reputation as

15080-439: The war with skill, and not recklessly, since they believed that the Romans through lack of supplies would soon abandon the country, he pretended to be afraid of them. But although he incurred their contempt, he did not even then draw them into a conflict with him; and so, while they were feeling secure with regard to the future, he attacked them suddenly and unexpectedly. At the point where he met them he accomplished nothing, because

15210-457: The war. Both Pompeius and Crassus levied troops throughout Italy. Publius may have organized these efforts in the north, as he is said to have departed for Parthia from Gaul (probably Cisalpina ). His thousand cavalry from Celtica (present-day France and Belgium), auxilia provided by technically independent allies, were likely to have been stationed in Cisalpina; it is questionable whether

15340-411: The young man's prudence, diplomacy, and strategic thinking. Plutarch describes a leader who is above all keen to fight, brave to the point of recklessness, and tragically heroic in his embrace of death. Publius Crassus's friends Censorinus and Megabocchus and most of the officers commit suicide next to him, and barely 500 men are left alive. The Parthians mutilate Publius's body and parade his head on

15470-509: Was acquired rather than inherited, and that he was raised in modest circumstances. Crassus' grandfather of the same name, Marcus Licinius Crassus (praetor c. 126 BC), was facetiously given the Greek nickname Agelastus (the unlaughing or grim) by his contemporary Gaius Lucilius , the inventor of Roman satire, who asserted that he smiled once in his whole life. This grandfather was son of Publius Licinius Crassus . The latter's brother, Gaius Licinius Crassus (consul 168 BC), produced

15600-407: Was around sixty and hearing-impaired when he embarked on the Parthian invasion. Plutarch in particular regards greed as his motive; modern historians tend toward envy and rivalry, since Crassus’ faded military reputation was inferior to that of Pompeius and, after five years of war in Gaul, to that of Caesar. Elizabeth Rawson, however, suggested that in addition to these or other practical objectives,

15730-544: Was elected praetor in 73 BC and pursued the cursus honorum . During the Third Servile War , or Spartacus' revolt (73–71 BC), Crassus offered to equip, train, and lead new troops at his own expense, after several legions had been defeated and their commanders killed in battle. Crassus was sent into battle against Spartacus by the Senate. At first, he had trouble both in anticipating Spartacus' moves and in inspiring his army to strengthen their morale. When

15860-455: Was generous but not ostentatious; Crassus chose his companions during leisure hours on the basis of personal friendship as well as political utility. Although the Crassi, as noble plebeians , would have displayed ancestral images in their atrium, they did not lay claim to a fictionalized genealogy that presumed divine or legendary ancestors, a practice not uncommon among the Roman nobility. After rebuilding his fortune, Crassus' next concern

15990-403: Was his political career. As a wealthy man in Rome, an adherent of Sulla, and a man who hailed from a line of consuls and praetors, Crassus' political future was apparently assured. His problem was that, despite his military successes, he was eclipsed by his contemporary Pompey the Great . Crassus' rivalry with Pompey and his envy of Pompey's triumph would influence his subsequent career. Crassus

16120-721: Was located east of the Coriosolites , north of the Namnetes , west of the Aulerci Diablintes , and southwest of the Venelli and Abrincatui . Their capital was known as Condate Redonum, and was at the site of modern day Rennes . After the bloody fight on the Sambre (57 BC) Julius Caesar sent Publius Licinius Crassus with a single legion into the country of the Veneti , Redones, and other Celtic tribes between

16250-472: Was one of two sons of Marcus Licinius Crassus , the so-called "triumvir" , and Tertulla , daughter of Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus . He belonged to the last generation of Roman nobiles who came of age and began a political career before the collapse of the Republic . His peers included Marcus Antonius , Marcus Junius Brutus , Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus , the poet Gaius Valerius Catullus , and

16380-444: Was only about 25 at the time. He was greatly outnumbered, but he recruited both new Celtic allies and called up provincial forces from southern Gaul; a thousand of his Celtic cavalry remain under his command and loyal to him till his death. Caesar seems almost to present a military résumé for Crassus that outlines the qualities of a good officer. The young dux successfully brought the power of war machines to bear in laying siege to

16510-402: Was restabilized at the Luca Conference in 56 BC, after which Crassus and Pompey again served jointly as consuls. Following his second consulship, Crassus was appointed as the governor of Roman Syria . Crassus used Syria as the launchpad for a military campaign against the Parthian Empire , Rome's long-time eastern enemy. Crassus' campaign was a disastrous failure, ending in his defeat at

16640-409: Was rumored that a family friend, Quintus Axius from Reate , was the biological father of one of her two sons. Plutarch reports a joke by Cicero that made reference to a strong resemblance between Axius and one of the boys. The Peripatetic philosopher Alexander was attached to the household of Crassus and is likely to have contributed to the education of the boys. Although his poor remuneration

16770-428: Was sent to provide reinforcements. Crassus hurried to seek the final battle, which he won. Pompey arrived in time to deal with the disorganized and defeated fugitives, writing to the Senate that "indeed, Crassus had conquered the slaves, but that he himself had extirpated the war." "Crassus, for all his self-approval, did not venture to ask for the major triumph, and it was thought ignoble and mean in him to celebrate even

16900-627: Was to rebuild the fortunes of his family, which had been confiscated during the Marian-Cinnan proscriptions . Sulla's proscriptions, in which the property of his victims was cheaply auctioned off, found one of the greatest acquirers of this type of property in Crassus: indeed, Sulla was especially supportive of this, because he wished to spread the blame as much as possible among those unscrupulous enough to do so. Sulla's proscriptions ensured that his survivors would recoup their lost fortunes from

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