Question 1

True or false: Crassus suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus and crucified 6,000 survivors along the Appian Way.

Accepted Answer

True. True. After defeating Spartacus in 71 BC, Crassus ordered mass crucifixions as a brutal deterrent, stretching from Capua to Rome.

Question 2

True or false: Crassus died after the Parthians poured molten gold down his throat to mock his greed.

Accepted Answer

True. This is a legendary but widely reported account. Historical sources like Cassius Dio suggest this was a symbolic punishment for his avarice.

Question 3

True or false: Crassus’s son Publius died fighting alongside him in the disastrous Battle of Carrhae.

Accepted Answer

True. True. Publius Crassus led a cavalry charge that was ambushed and killed; his severed head was used by the Parthians as a trophy.

Question 4

True or false: Crassus served as a general under Julius Caesar in Gaul and helped conquer Britain.

Accepted Answer

False. Crassus never served under Caesar in Gaul. He died in 53 BC, years before Caesar’s Gallic campaigns ended and the invasion of Britain.

Question 5

True or false: Crassus once famously said that no man is truly rich unless he can afford his own army.

Accepted Answer

False. This is a fabricated quote; Crassus did say wealth meant power, but the specific army quote is unattributed and likely apocryphal.

Question 6

True or false: Crassus owned a fire brigade that refused to put out fires unless the owner sold him the burning building.

Accepted Answer

True. True. Crassus used private fire-fighting slaves; he’d negotiate to buy the property cheap while it burned, then extinguish the flames.

Question 7

True or false: Crassus was the wealthiest man in Roman history, worth more than the entire Roman treasury at his peak.

Accepted Answer

False. While incredibly rich, his wealth (estimated at 200 million sesterces) was less than the state treasury, though still unprecedented for a private citizen.

Question 8

True or false: Crassus was the youngest member of the First Triumvirate, joining at age 38.

Accepted Answer

False. Crassus was actually the oldest member, born around 115 BC—about 15 years older than Pompey and 10 years older than Caesar.

Marcus Crassus Trivia Questions