Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives (115-53 BC) was a Roman politician and member of the First Triumvirate, for which he provided financial backing. He spent much of his political career in frustrated rivalry with Pompey.

Crassus was descended from a long line of distinguished senators. When, during the uprising of Cornelius Cinna in 87 B.C., his father committed suicide and his brother was murdered by the forces of Gaius Marius, Crassus fled to Spain. After the death of Cinna he came out of hiding, gathered a small military force, and eventually joined Sulla when he returned to Italy from the East. In command of the right wing at the battle of the Colline Gate in 82, Crassus was mainly responsible for the final victory of Sulla over the Marians. During the subsequent Sullan proscriptions he began to amass his enormous fortune by buying the property of the proscribed. Later he...