Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/466

 462 CRASSUS CRATES Shortly before his death he vehemently de- fended the laws proposed by the tribune M. Livius Drusus against L. M. Philippus, one of the consuls. Crassus was fond of elegance .and luxury ; his house on the Palatine hill was remarkable for its splendor, and adorned with works of art. In Cicero's De Oratore he figures as one of the speakers, and is supposed to express the opinions of the author. II. Alarms Licinius, one of the first Roman trium- virate, born about 105 B. C., killed near Car- rhae in Mesopotamia in 53. He belonged to a different family from that of the preceding, several members of which had attained high honors in the republic, and borne the surname of Dives (rich). His father, who was con- sul and censor, was in the civil war a zealous partisan of Sulla, and died by his own hand after the victorious return of Marius and Cinna in 87. Young Crassus escaped to Spain, whence he went to Africa after the death of Cinna, and from there to Italy (83) to fight against the Marian party. Enriched with the spoils of the defeated and proscribed party, his avaricious and speculative spirit found ample means to augment his wealth by purchases at auction, by farming, mining, and letting out houses and .slaves, and thus fully to deserve the family -surname. His riches and hospitality gave him influence and favor with the people, which paved his way to civil and military distinctions, though he was possessed of no remarkable talents. In 71 he was praetor, and received the command against the revolted slaves under Spartacus ; he rapidly raised six legions, and defeated the gladiator in a bloody battle on the river Silarus, in which Spartacus was slain. Crassus received an ovation, being crowned, as conqueror of slaves, with a wreath of laurel instead of myrtle, and was elected, together with Pompey, consul for the following year. Rivalling the influence of his great colleague, he bribed the people of Rome by extraordinary banquets and distributions of corn ; but he was finally reconciled with Pompey, and united with him and Caesar in forming the first tri- umvirate (60 B. 0.). Caesar, who received the province of Gaul, lulled by some minor under- takings the attention of his colleagues, who supported him by the influence of their fame and wealth. The compact was renewed, and Crassus was again elected with Pompey consul for the year 55. According to the new terms, Caesar was to continue his government in Gaul, Pompey received Spain, and Crassus Syria. Lavish preparations betrayed his intention of entering upon a great expedition against the Parthians, which promised to become a source of boundless conquests and riches. In antici- pation of these, his joy is said to have been childish ; and the opposition of the tribunes, as well as various omens which alarmed the people, could not deter him from his under- taking. He marched through Macedonia and Thrace to Asia, crossed the Euphrates in 54, and laid waste Mesopotamia, but returned to Syria, where he spent the winter, before start- ing on a new campaign in 53. He recrossed the Euphrates, following the false advice of an Arabian chief, and was attacked by Surena, the general of Orodes, king of the Parthians, near Carrhae, supposed to be the Biblical Haran. The Romans were defeated with immense slaughter. Crassus retreated to the town, but was compelled by a mutiny of the soldiers to accept the invitation of the enemy to a con- ference, on the way to which he was treacher- ously killed. The circumstances of this event are variously related. His head was sent to the Parthian king, who poured into his mouth melted gold, saying, "Now be satiated with what thou covetedst through life." CRATERIJS, a favorite general of Alexander the Great, killed in 321 B. C. When Alexan- der died in 323 Craterus was on his way to Macedonia, of which he was to be regent, in place of Antipater, then regent, who was to lead reinforcements to Asia. In the distribu- tion of the empire, these two received in com- mon the government of Macedonia, Greece, Illyria, and a part of Epirus ; Antipater com- manding the army, and Craterus exercising the civil functions. They acted in harmony in the Lamian war, in that against the ^Etolians, and finally against Perdiccas in Egypt and Eumenes in Cappadocia. Craterus fell in a battle with Eumenes. CRATES. I. A comic poet of Athens, flour^ ished about 440 B. C. Eminent as an actor, he often performed the principal parts in the' plays of Cratinus. As a comic poet he was the first Athenian who ventured to bring drunken characters on the stage. Little is known of his works. The titles of 14 are given, of 8 of which there are extant frag- ments. II. A Cynic philosopher, born at Thebes, flourished about 320 B. C. He early removed to Athens, where he became the pupil of Diogenes, and afterward one of the most emi- nent in that school of philosophers. Accord- ing to Diogenes Laertius, he lived a Cynic of the straitest sort. ' Fearing that the quiet of philosophical pursuits would be disturbed by the cares of wealth, of which he had an abun- dance, he is said to have thrown his money into the sea; but according to another ac- count, he placed it in the hands of a banker, with the condition that if his sons should have the misfortune to be fools they should inherit the property, and that otherwise it should be distributed to the poor. "For," said Crates, "if they are philosophers, they will not need it." He wrote a book of philosophical letters, which Laertius compares with those of Plato, and also tragedies and smaller poems, none of which are extant. His life was written by Plutarch, but this has also been lost. HI. An Athenian philosopher, the pupil and friend of Polemo, and his successor in the chair of the academy, flourished about 270 B. C. He con- tributed little to the progress of philosophical investigation, and is known mainly as the in-