The Rise and Fall of Crassus
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 18 December 2022
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Often overshadowed by his more successful peers (anyone heard of Julius Caesar?), Crassus' rise and fall from power is that of legend. A Roman General, Statesman, and once called the 'Richest Man In Rome', Crassus' power and influence is undisputed. But how did Crassus come to obtain such power, and just how far can the mighty actually fall?
In this episode, Tristan is joined by Sir Peter Stothard to talk us through the rise and fall of this often overlooked figure. From his involvement in quelling the Spartacus rebellion, to his untimely death on the battle field, what is there to learn about this pillar of Roman society - and just how did his head end up as a theatre prop?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Engines on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and in today's |
| 0:13.7 | podcast we're talking about a figure who lived at the time of big names such as Julius |
| 0:19.0 | Caesar and Nias Pompey Magnus. We're talking about the third person in this first triumvirate, |
| 0:26.2 | a person who fought against the likes of Spartacus, who has been labeled the richest man in Rome, |
| 0:31.8 | who created a fire brigade, who perished fighting in the east against the parthians in one of Rome's most |
| 0:39.5 | infamous defeats. History is a fascinating one and I'm of course talking about a man who was |
| 0:46.0 | Marcus the Cineus, Crasseus. Now Crasseus, his story as mentioned, is extraordinary and recently |
| 0:54.4 | Sir Peter Studdard has released a book all about Crasseus, Crasseus the first tycoon. Peter is a |
| 1:01.6 | bit of a legend in the ancient history world, there are many legends in the ancient history world |
| 1:05.4 | and Peter is certainly another of these. And so few weeks back, he came to our history hit HQ, |
| 1:12.4 | our history hit office for an interview for the ancients all about his new book. So here we go, |
| 1:17.9 | here is the episode. We have got the brilliant Sir Peter Studdard talking through the rise |
| 1:23.4 | and fooled of Marcus the Cineus Crasseus, a modern man for ancient times, the first tycoon. Peter |
| 1:30.7 | talks through history brilliantly and you're going to absolutely love it. So without further ado, |
| 1:35.1 | to talk all about the rise and fool of Marcus the Cineus Crasseus, here's Peter. |
| 1:54.2 | Peter, it is wonderful to tell you on the podcast today. Great to be here. And such a brilliant topic, |
| 2:02.3 | Marcus the Cineus Crasseus. And I love this line, the story of a modern man in an ancient world. |
| 2:07.2 | Yeah, he was, he absolutely was. He wasn't very fashionable at his time and he wasn't very |
| 2:13.0 | fashionable for many years later because he wasn't a great military leader. Although he did do a |
| 2:18.3 | bit of soldering, he wasn't a great artisan speaker and a great politician, though he did a bit |
| 2:22.9 | of that. But he was one of those politicians who worked behind the scenes. He was the banker, |
| 2:28.4 | the briber, the sort of manipulator, the spider in the middle of the web, which is why we call it |
... |
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