Question

Compare and contrast Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus.

Answer 1

All three men had survived Sulla's proscriptions. Crassus and Pompey had supported the dictator, the one as, in Lily Ross Taylor's words, the arch-Sullan profiteer, and the other, as a general. Something else Crassus and Pompey had in common was wealth, an advantage Julius Caesar and his family, which could trace its ancestry back to the beginnings of Rome, didn't have. Earlier, Julius Caesar's aunt had married Marius, the urban plebeians' late hero, in an alliance that conferred aristocratic connections on Marius and access to money for Caesar's family. Pompey needed help getting land for his veterans and resurrecting his political favor. Pompey was linked to Caesar by marriage to Caesar's daughter. She died, in 54, in childbirth, after which Caesar and Pompey fell out. Motivated by desire for power and influence, Crassus may also have enjoyed watching Pompey's predictable fall from grace as the Optimates, who had supported him, began to fade away. Crassus was willing to back Caesar's debts when he set out for his province, Spain, in 61. Exactly when the first triumvirate started is debated, but it was to help all three that the triumvirate was formed right around the year 60 B.C., the year Caesar was elected to the consulship.

Answer 2

All three men had survived Sulla's proscriptions. Crassus and Pompey had supported the dictator, the one as, in Lily Ross Taylor's words, the arch-Sullan profiteer, and the other, as a general. Something else Crassus and Pompey had in common was wealth, an advantage Julius Caesar and his family, which could trace its ancestry back to the beginnings of Rome, didn't have. Earlier, Julius Caesar's aunt had married Marius, the urban plebeians' late hero, in an alliance that conferred aristocratic connections on Marius and access to money for Caesar's family. Pompey needed help getting land for his veterans and resurrecting his political favor. Pompey was linked to Caesar by marriage to Caesar's daughter. She died, in 54, in childbirth, after which Caesar and Pompey fell out. Motivated by desire for power and influence, Crassus may also have enjoyed watching Pompey's predictable fall from grace as the Optimates, who had supported him, began to fade away. Crassus was willing to back Caesar's debts when he set out for his province, Spain, in 61. Exactly when the first triumvirate started is debated, but it was to help all three that the triumvirate was formed right around the year 60 B.C., the year Caesar was elected to the consulship.

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