Marcus Licinius Crassus
~115-53 BCE · Roman · Roman Republic
Known for: Richest man in Rome who ran a fire-brigade extortion racket
Crassus made his fortune through real estate speculation—he maintained a private fire brigade that arrived at burning buildings, bought the property cheap from panicking owners, then extinguished the fire and renovated. He also profited from Sulla's proscriptions, buying confiscated estates of the executed.
Member of the First Triumvirate with Caesar and Pompey. Killed at the Battle of Carrhae, where Parthians reportedly poured molten gold into his mouth to mock his greed.
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