A report on Marcus Licinius Crassus, Caesar's civil war, Pompey and Battle of Carrhae

Bust of Crassus, in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

Map of the Roman Republic in the mid-1st century BC

1st century AD bust of Pompey, after an original from 55–50 BC

Roman world in 56 BC, when Caesar, Crassus and Pompey met at Luca for a conference in which they decided to add another five years to the proconsulship of Caesar in Gaul and to give the province of Syria to Crassus and both Spanish provinces and Africa to Pompey.

A view of Monte Conero in Marche, Italy (formerly Picenum), birthplace of Pompey

A Roman marble head of the triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus, mid-1st century BC, Grand Palais, Paris

Julius Caesar pausing on the banks of the Rubicon

Roman statue putatively depicting Pompey, at the Villa Arconati a Castellazzo di Bollate (Milan, Italy), brought from Rome in 1627 by Galeazzo Arconati

A Roman bust of Pompey the Great made during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), a copy of an original bust from 70 to 60 BC, Venice National Archaeological Museum, Italy

Column of Julius Caesar, where he addressed his army to march on Rome and start the Civil War, Rimini, Italy

Marble bust of Pompey at the Louvre, Paris

Relief of a Parthian cataphract attacking a lion using kontos

From left to right: Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Pompey the Great

Modern bust of Pompey in the Residenz, Munich

Roman coin of Augustus (19 BC) showing a Parthian soldier returning the standards captured at Carrhae. Augustus hailed the return of the standards as a political victory over Parthia.

Denarius minted by Publius Licinius Crassus, son of the triumvir Marcus, as monetalis in 55 BC; on the obverse is a laureate bust of Venus, perhaps in honor of his commanding officer Julius Caesar; on the reverse is an unidentified female figure, perhaps representing Gaul

A Roman portrait of Crassus, Pompey's political rival turned begrudging ally, in the Musée du Louvre, Paris

Detail from the breastplate of Augustus Prima Porta, showing a Parthian man returning the aquila lost by Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae

A tetradrachm of Tigranes II the Great of Armenia, minted at Antioch, 83–69 BC

Pompey in the Temple of Jerusalem, a miniature by Jean Fouquet, 15th century

The bust of Mithridates of Pontus in the Louvre, Paris

Judea (shown in blue) under Hyrcanus II in 63 BC, having been reduced to a small vassal as Pompey annexed the north for Rome (shown in red)

A modern bust of Pompey, restored in the 17th century with a black marble base, Vaux-le-Vicomte, France

18th-century depiction of the third triumph

The Tusculum portrait, a bust of Julius Caesar in the Archaeological Museum of Turin, Italy

The Flight of Pompey after Pharsalus, by Jean Fouquet

Roman bust of Cleopatra VII of Ptolemaic Egypt, mid-1st century BC, Altes Museum, Antikensammlung Berlin, showing Cleopatra with a "melon" hairstyle and Hellenistic royal diadem worn over the head

Theodotus shows Caesar the head of Pompey; etching, 1820

The head of Pompey on a denarius minted in 40 BC by his son Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius

It began as a series of political and military confrontations between Gaius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.

- Caesar's civil war

An invading force of seven legions of Roman heavy infantry under Marcus Licinius Crassus was lured into the desert and decisively defeated by a mixed cavalry army of heavy cataphracts and light horse archers led by the Parthian general Surena.

- Battle of Carrhae

Crassus rose to political prominence following his victory over the slave revolt led by Spartacus, sharing the consulship with his rival Pompey the Great.

- Marcus Licinius Crassus

In 60 BC, Pompey joined Crassus and Caesar in the military-political alliance known as the First Triumvirate.

- Pompey

Crassus' campaign was a disastrous failure, ending in his defeat and death at the Battle of Carrhae.

- Marcus Licinius Crassus

The following four-year period of peace between the remaining two members of the Triumvirate, Julius Caesar and Pompey, argues against the view that Crassus had been a peacekeeper within the group and supports the views of most Roman historians that friction between Crassus and Pompey had always been a greater cause of tension than that between Caesar and Pompey.

- Battle of Carrhae

Within four years of Crassus' death, Caesar crossed the Rubicon and began a civil war against Pompey and the optimates.

- Marcus Licinius Crassus

Pompey and Caesar then began contending for leadership of the Roman state in its entirety, eventually leading to Caesar's Civil War.

- Pompey

Caesar had allied himself with Crassus and Pompey in the so-called First Triumvirate during his consulship.

- Caesar's civil war

After Crassus' departure from Rome at the end of 55 BC and following his death in battle in 53 BC, the alliance started to fracture more cleanly.

- Caesar's civil war

As a result, civil war broke out.

- Battle of Carrhae

Shortly after the death of Julia, Crassus died at the Battle of Carrhae (May 53 BC), bringing the first triumvirate to an end.

- Pompey

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The Tusculum portrait, possibly the only surviving sculpture of Caesar made during his lifetime. Archaeological Museum, Turin, Italy.

Julius Caesar

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Roman general and statesman.

Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla stripped Caesar of the priesthood.

A denarius depicting Julius Caesar, dated to February–March 44 BC—the goddess Venus is shown on the reverse, holding Victoria and a scepter. Caption: CAESAR IMP. M. / L. AEMILIVS BVCA

The extent of the Roman Republic in 40 BC after Caesar's conquests

Vercingetorix throws down his arms at the feet of Julius Caesar, painting by Lionel Royer. Musée Crozatier, Le Puy-en-Velay, France.

Cleopatra and Caesar, 1866 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme

This mid-1st-century-BC Roman wall painting in Pompeii is probably a depiction of Cleopatra VII as Venus Genetrix, with her son Caesarion as Cupid. Its owner Marcus Fabius Rufus most likely ordered its concealment behind a wall in reaction to the execution of Caesarion on orders of Octavian in 30 BC.

Green Caesar, posthumous portrait of the 1st century AD, Altes Museum, Berlin

Statue of Julius Caesar, Via dei Fori Imperiali, Rome

La clémence de César, Abel de Pujol, 1808

Denarius (42 BC) issued by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Lentulus Spinther, depicting the crowned head of Liberty and on the reverse a sacrificial jug and lituus, from the military mint in Smyrna. Caption: C. CASSI. IMP. LEIBERTAS / LENTVLVS SPINT.

The senators encircle Caesar, a 19th-century interpretation of the event by Carl Theodor von Piloty

The Death of Caesar, Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1867

Bust of Mark Antony made during the Flavian dynasty (69–96 AD)

Marc Antony's Oration at Caesar's Funeral by George Edward Robertson

Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, Caesar's adopted heir

The Chiaramonti Caesar bust, a posthumous portrait in marble, 44–30 BC, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican Museums

Reliefs of Cleopatra and her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion, at the Temple of Dendera

Roman painting from the House of Giuseppe II, Pompeii, early 1st century AD, most likely depicting Cleopatra VII, wearing her royal diadem, consuming poison in an act of suicide, while her son Caesarion, also wearing a royal diadem, stands behind her

Bust in Naples National Archaeological Museum, photograph published in 1902

Bust in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples

Bust of Julius Caesar from the British Museum

Modern bronze statue of Julius Caesar, Rimini, Italy

Flowers placed on the remains of the altar of Caesar in the Roman Forum of Rome, Italy

Portrait at the Archaeological Museum of Sparta

Bronze statue at the Porta Palatina in Turin

Bust in the Archaeological Museum of Corinth

A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and subsequently became dictator of Rome from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate, a political alliance that dominated Roman politics for several years.

These achievements and the support of his veteran army threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey, who had realigned himself with the Senate after the death of Crassus in 53 BC. With the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to step down from his military command and return to Rome.

From left to right: Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey

First Triumvirate

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A Roman bust of Marcus Tullius Cicero, depicted here at about age sixty, in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain

A Roman bust of Lucius Cornelius Sulla in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

A Roman bust of Crassus in the Louvre, Paris, France

Family tree showing the relationship between the three members of the First Triumvirate, as well as their relationships with other prominent members of the Republic.

The First Triumvirate (80-70BC) was an informal alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic: Gaius Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus.

Crassus embarked on an expedition against the Parthians to match Caesar's victories in Gaul but died in the disastrous defeat of Carrhae in 53 BC.

The following civil war eventually led to Caesar's victory over Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC and the latter's assassination in Ptolemaic Egypt, where he fled after the battle.

Roman provinces on the eve of the assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 BC

Roman Republic

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State of the classical Roman civilization, run through public representation of the Roman people.

The "Capitoline Brutus", a bust possibly depicting Lucius Junius Brutus, who led the revolt against Rome's last king and was a founder of the Republic.

The Temple of Hercules Victor, Rome, built in the mid 2nd century BC, most likely by Lucius Mummius Achaicus, who won the Achaean War.

Bust of Pyrrhus, found in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, now in the Naples Archaeological Museum. Pyrrhus was a brave and chivalrous general who fascinated the Romans, explaining his presence in a Roman house.

The Roman Republic before the First Punic War.

Denarius of C. Caecilius Metellus Caprarius, 125 BC. The reverse depicts the triumph of his great-grandfather Lucius, with the elephants he had captured at Panormos. The elephant had thence become the emblem of the powerful Caecilii Metelli.

Principal offensives of the war: Rome (red), Hannibal (green), Hasdrubal (purple).

A Carthaginian quarter shekel, perhaps minted in Spain. The obverse may depict Hannibal under the traits of young Melqart. The reverse features one of his famous war elephants.

Roman marble bust of Scipio Africanus, found in the Tomb of the Scipios.

Scene of the Battle of Corinth (146 BC): last day before the Roman legions looted and burned the Greek city of Corinth. The last day on Corinth, Tony Robert-Fleury, 1870.

Bust, traditionally identified as Gaius Marius, instigator of the Marian reforms.

Denarius of Faustus Cornelius Sulla, 56 BC. It shows Diana on the obverse, while the reverse depicts Sulla being offered an olive branch by his ally Bocchus I. Jugurtha is shown captive on the right.

A Roman marble head of Pompey (now in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek)

The Tusculum portrait, a Roman sculpture of Julius Caesar, Archaeological Museum of Turin, Italy

The Curia Julia, the senate house started by Julius Caesar in 44 BC and completed by Octavian in 29 BC, replacing the Curia Cornelia as the meeting place of the Senate.

The Roman Forum, the commercial, cultural, religious, and political center of the city and the Republic which housed the various offices and meeting places of the government

Detail from the Ahenobarbus relief showing (centre-right) two Roman foot-soldiers c. 122 BC. Note the Montefortino-style helmets with horsehair plume, chain mail cuirasses with shoulder reinforcement, oval shields with calfskin covers, gladius and pilum.

Roman warrior, fresco in Pompeii, ca. 80—20 BC

A Roman naval bireme depicted in a relief from the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste, c. 120 BC; now in the Museo Pio-Clementino in the Vatican Museums

Temple of Janus as seen in the present church of San Nicola in Carcere, in the Forum Holitorium of Rome, Italy, dedicated by Gaius Duilius after his naval victory at the Battle of Mylae in 260 BC

An inscribed funerary relief of Aurelius Hermia and his wife Aurelia Philematum, former slaves who married after their manumission, 80 BC, from a tomb along the Via Nomentana in Rome

The "Togatus Barberini", depicting a Roman senator holding the imagines (effigies) of deceased ancestors in his hands; marble, late 1st century BC; head (not belonging): mid 1st century BC

Ruins of the Aqua Anio Vetus, a Roman aqueduct built in 272 BC

The Temple of Portunus, god of grain storage, keys, livestock and ports. Rome, built between 120 and 80 BC

The tomb of the Flavii, a necropolis outside the Nucerian gate (Porta Nocera) of Pompeii, Italy, constructed 50–30 BC

Denarius of Lucius Caesius, 112–111 BC. On the obverse is Apollo, as written on the monogram behind his head, who also wears the attributes of Vejovis, an obscure deity. The obverse depicts a group of statues representing the Lares Praestites, which was described by Ovid.

Inside the "Temple of Mercury" at Baiae, a swimming pool for a Roman bath, built during the late Roman Republic, and containing one of the largest domes in the world before the building of the Pantheon

Denarius of Caesar, minted just before his murder, in 44 BC. It was the first Roman coin bearing the portrait of a living person. The lituus and culullus depicted behind his head refer to his augurate and pontificate. The reverse with Venus alludes to his claimed descent from the goddess.

The ruins of the Servian Wall, built during the 4th century BC, one of the earliest ancient Roman defensive walls

The Orator, c. 100 BC, an Etrusco-Roman statue of a Republican senator, wearing toga praetexta and senatorial shoes; compared to the voluminous, costly, impractical togas of the Imperial era, the Republican-era type is frugal and "skimpy" (exigua).

Banquet scene, fresco, Herculaneum, Italy, c. 50 BC

The Amphitheatre of Pompeii, built around 70 BC and buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius 79 AD, once hosted spectacles with gladiators.

These multiple tensions led to a series of civil wars; the first between the two generals Julius Caesar and Pompey.

The second instead stresses the continuity of the republic: until its disruption by Caesar's civil war and the following two decades of civil war created conditions for autocratic rule and made return to the republic impossible.

At the head of some seventy thousand men, Spartacus led them in a Third Servile War – they sought freedom by escape from Italy – before being defeated by troops raised by M. Licinius Crassus.

After initial successes, he marched his army deep into the desert; but here his army was cut off deep in enemy territory, surrounded and slaughtered at the Battle of Carrhae in which Crassus himself perished.